The Final Adventure 2: Ace in the Hole
by FantasyFan5
Summary: Sequel to TFA. Itex is changing the world, and not in a good way. Wars are breaking out everywhere. Max and her flock are on bad terms, but if they can't forgive each other, they watch the world burn...Let the 'games' begin. Fax, JP owns all.
1. Prologue

**A/N: WELCOME! Welcome to **_**The Final Adventure 2: Ace in the Hole**_**. This is the sequel to **_**Maximum Ride: The Final Adventure, **_**which should be pretty obvious, but just in case…**

**For those of you just joining us, I'd highly recommend reading my fic mentioned above, but I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to get by without it. Just so you know, it is post MR3. MR4 (and, eventually, MR5) is basically dead to me in this story. **

**I'm super excited for this! One big change from TFA: I'm not doing the whole author's note at the beginning and end of every chapter thing anymore. If you want news, check the link to my homepage, it's on my profile. I think the story will flow better if you don't have me chattering in your ear all the time. XD You won't see one of these babies again until the end (holy cow). So, since you won't see these all the time, here is my one and only request: REVIEW!!**

**So are you READY?! Without further ado, **_**The Final Adventure 2: Ace in the Hole. **_

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**Prologue  
One Year Later  
Berlin, Germany**

The Director of Itex was _not _having a good day.

Marian Janssen sat at her desk and tapped a ballpoint pen impatiently against the polished wooden edge. The reports on the human/ursus hybrids were due two days ago, and they still had not made their way to her yet. She _needed _them if she was to follow through with the next stage of the newly reinstated By-Half plan. Also, there were the Animins, the new wonders of Itex. They had finally succeeded in locating and removing the human soul, but it had some previously unforeseen complications that were just _waiting _to mess everything up.

And then – _then _there were the human/avian hybrids. Her eyes narrowed at the very thought, and she left off tapping the pen and began twirling it in her fingers. They were like an itch she couldn't scratch. No matter how hard Itex tried to exterminate them – all in the hopes of a better world – they continued to defy them and, somehow, escape the clutches of the multi-billion dollar company.

How did they do it? How did they escape again and again? It shouldn't be possible. Itex had resources and tools that no one had ever heard of. Once the new world was created, the world completely ruled by experiments and a few choice humans, Itex would literally rule the world, with her at its head. Just thinking about it made her back straighten with importance.

But not yet. Not while the Flock was still alive. For now, her priority would have to be finding and retiring the avian hybrids.

Sighing, she replaced the pen on the table and turned on the television. Marian didn't wish to think of such unpleasant things. They were beneath her. When she ruled the world, people of a far lower rank than her would do the dirty work. For now, it was simply an obligation, required for her to reach the top.

For example, that man, Zachary Hail. He was beginning to tire of his job, and wished to expose them and all that they had worked so hard for. He had to be disposed of, and quickly. She made a mental note to dispatch a team of Animins as soon as possible.

Marian began to rise from her desk, intending to go and survey the development of a new experiment, but then stopped. The newspaper headlines had caught her eye, and she smiled thinly. She always loved to read about the effects of her plan – it made it much more real.

She pulled the paper towards her and turned to the world news section. China had officially declared war on the United States, claiming that they used up too much of the world's resources than was allotted to them. It was a perfectly mundane excuse – how many wars had been fought over resources in the past? – but it had all sorts of underlying implications that few were privy to.

As she began to skim the article, she was startled by three sharp raps on the door. "What?" she asked, irritated. "Get in."

Dr. Morgan, her assistant, flung open the door. "Director Janssen," he addressed her formally, though excitement was clear in his voice. "We've received news on the avians. They're without the oldest female, but the remaining five are not far from here, only twenty miles away."

Marian smiled and chilled her assistant to the bone. It wasn't a normal smile. It was feral – a predator's smile.

"Excellent," she replied slowly. "Send a team of the animus minors immediately. Give them orders not to kill. I want them brought here - to me."

"Yes, Director."

Marian's day was finally looking up.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Schizophrenia - ****schiz·o·phre·ni·a:****a ****severe mental illness**

I threw aside _Webster's New Pocket Dictionary _and rubbed the heels of my palms in my eyes, letting out an exasperated groan. Its 'clearest, most concise definitions' weren't doing jack for me right now. I wanted answers and I wanted them _fast. _

_**Max, relax already, **_Jeb told me in an exasperated tone. _**For the last time, you are not schizophrenic. **_

_Says you, _I retorted mentally. All the mental sparring between Jeb and I since I left the flock a year ago has gotten pretty dang boring, actually. There's no fresh _zing _to my comebacks, you know?

Oh, that's right. I forgot. You're not caught up yet. Yeah, I left the flock. That was a year ago. I'm nearly sixteen now, in case you care.

But just for the moment, we're not going to talk about that.

_In case you've forgotten, Jebediah, _I continued, calling him by his full name. He hated that. _You aren't the _only _voice I hear in my head. How do I know the second one is real and I didn't run away because of some crazy chemical imbalance in my brain or something? _That had been torturing me for the past couple of days. Hence the library I was currently in, searching fervently for answers.

_**Trust me. **_And then he was gone.

I pried my hands from my eyes and glanced around my surroundings. You see, here's the thing. I haven't had a meaningful conversation with a human being in a _year. _Ever since…then, the only voices that have spoken to me are the ones in my head. You can see why I would think that the voices I heard were either a) going to drive me crazy, b) made up and a figment of my imagination, or c) all of the above.

I still thought it was going to be c, sadly.

Making a face, I pulled today's newspaper towards me across the polished wood paper, scanning the headlines. Itex was growing really quickly, more each day. Of course that wasn't in the papers – _hello, _sadly, Itex isn't that stupid – but to an experienced Itex expert (ahem) the signs were easy to spot.

For example, this pretty recent war between China and the U.S. that had caused me to leave the country, to England. Come on. Obvious, much? We'd all but proved the Chinese Itex was behind global warming and then all of a sudden, they declare war on the U.S. _Sure. That's _not a coincidence at all.

I continued scanning the paper, skipping over the murder of some man from the area named Hail and going to an article about the war. I wondered why the U.S. Itex wasn't opposed to this. Maybe they were actually _willing _to step back and watch their country burn to the ground.

Actually, yeah, that's pretty likely.

Suddenly, my heart seemed to skip a beat. Next to the war article, there was a small article about strange sightings in Germany – apparently what scientists believed to be a new species of large bird. Though they had been unable to capture any of these strange animals, the article continued, it was the hope that they would be seen again. Next to the article was a fuzzy picture of bird like shapes in the sky, wings spread out to their full extent.

There were five shapes in that picture.

I was probably the only one who would read this paper who would know what that meant. My flock was alive, and they were okay – for now. My whole heart seemed to ache at the thought of them by themselves. I hadn't had any news of them for this past year – they'd been doing pretty well keeping themselves hidden. If they were in the paper now, it meant that they were probably in trouble, and that wasn't good.

I couldn't stop wishing I could turn back time so that I had never left. I know that I must have nearly killed them by leaving, especially _him. _I can't even think his name without feeling like I'm being stabbed with guilt and regret. After you've spent your whole life with someone, then they're torn away – because of _you_, it leaves a pretty damn big wound, I'll tell you that.

Seriously – imagine knowing that you can't go back to your family. Not only that, but even if you _could _go back, imagine that they would hate and probably kill you. Then imagine that all the misery – theirs and yours – is all _your _fault.

Feeling bad yet? Multiply that by ten and then you're a fraction of the way to where I'm at.

But I can't go back. And if I hadn't left, I'd bet my left wing that I would have snapped, and my best friend would have been dead and rotting away in the ground. My family would probably hate me even more than they do now. So basically, my choice was to have them hate me for killing their family, or to have them hate me for deserting them. Neither were good choices.

But still – _they were alive. _

Enough about that. I'm sure you all are wondering what I've been doing for the past year, right? Right. Well, here's your answer – basically, fighting for my life…and researching.

I know, I know. Don't say it, okay? Maximum Ride – spending a year on _research?_ Research is for the whitecoats. Seriously – kicking Itex butt is _way _more my style.

Well, actually, researching is too good of a term. More like sneaking-in-libraries-and-attempting-to-find-any-information-to-beat-Itex. By myself. With no help. Am I making my point yet? I have _no freaking clue _how to beat Itex without any help. They have, like, _millions _of people at their disposal vs. little old me. The odds aren't exactly in my favor.

So, I need all the knowledge I can.

I'd thought of recruiting people to help me, but the only ones that I would be able to send word out to would be experiments, without the help of the blog. And it wasn't as if I could just set up shop in the middle of London and yell out with my very _distinctive _American accent, "Hey, listen up! We need some help defeating some huge company that you don't believe is evil!"

So the libraries it was. But not for right now. For now, I was going to sleep.

I swung my backpack onto my shoulders as I stood and dared to let the tips of my wings stretch out from my back, just for a split second. _Ahhh. _That felt good. They'd been tucked in so tightly all day, they were just screaming to be spread out in the sky.

Pushing the chair in with my foot, I left the library, not bothering to glance at the librarian who was sending me strange looks. I didn't know what I'd done to deserve them. I _had _behaved just like a human, hadn't I? Whatever.

_**Max, this is wrong. You've dawdled for a year now. It's time to do what you know you need to. **_

The ever present second voice had returned. It was much less frequent now that I'd left everyone alone, but still, whatever connection it had with me still had not broken. I say again – _schizophrenic. _

_**And by the way, you're not schizophrenic. **_

_Stay out of my head. I'm not going to be your executioner. Just go away. _

_**I'm a real person, **_they continued, ignoring me. _**Flesh and blood. Just like you. **_

_Then walk out of my brain, why don't you? _I snapped. They retreated away into the corner of my brain wherever they normally are. Good riddance. They've already wrecked my life even more. Can't anyone just leave me _alone? _

As I pushed open the heavy wooden door of the library, the answer became apparent – _no. _

Two of Itex's pet experiments, the Animins, slid out behind me, attempting to be stealthy as I walked down the London sidewalk. To my super human hearing, not even the sounds of the cars passing me on the street or the music ebbing out from restaurants could cover up the sound of their heavy footsteps. My breathing sped up, and my body started pumping adrenaline into my system. It had been weeks since Itex had found me last. How did they keep doing this?

Automatically, I scanned for escape routes. I needed something remote, away from other people. The pulsing of the upbeat music from a club I passed throbbed with the beating of my heart as the beats increased, sending the adrenaline that had emptied into my system throughout my body.

It was _finally _going to get interesting in London. Strangely enough, I felt this really odd sense of relief when I heard the Animins. It was like _something _was still the same, you know?

Well, you probably don't, so I'll shut up.

I reached into my side pocket of the backpack and fiddled with something I'd put in there. It would help me get out of this if things got too out of hand. I mean, without Iggy, I had no firepower to rely on. And these Animins are _strong. _

I turned into an alleyway, purposefully drawing in the Animins. I could hear their breathing pick up slightly, but there was none of the obvious anticipation that Erasers would have had. The soulless Animins had no emotion. It made them the perfect killers for Itex, to get rid of unwanted complications. Complications like me.

The alley led into a dead end, which I hadn't expected. I glanced around in front of me. It was darker than the rest of the city, which was grey except for a few streaks of pink where the sun hadn't fully set yet. A good thing.

I heard a foot scrape on the ground behind me and whirled around, fists up. The two Animins were standing almost directly behind me, and had begun to reach out to grab me. Before they could even blink, I had snapped one's head back with a hard front snap kick and used the forward momentum to pivot quickly and knock him down with a left roundhouse.

He was down, but not nearly out.

The other Animin lurched forward, arm drawn back for a hard punch. One drawback to these babies – they're huge, which makes them slow, which makes them easier to beat. I ducked his left hook and delivered one heck of an uppercut to the ribs. Even though I had hit it as hard as I could, the punch that would have caved in the chest of a man only cracked a few ribs. It wouldn't be enough. I'd only knocked the wind out of him.

The first Animin was starting to pick itself up again, shaking its head to clear it. The look on the human face was almost funny – if I wasn't in the middle of a fight. I moved methodically, and an axe kick to the chest and a slight touch to a pressure point had him permanently out for the count. One down, one to go.

Breathing hard, I started to turn to face the other one, but he had me from behind already. His arm was around my neck and was slowly constricting, cutting off my air. My eyes bulged, and I immediately tried to struggle. I stopped that one fast, though – struggling only made it worse. I was starting to get tunnel vision, and despite trying to keep a level head, I started to freak out. I groped for the side pocket of my backpack and found the object that I was looking for. I pulled it out and aimed blindly. One twitch of my finger and the pressure on my airways was relieved. I fell to the ground, gasping for much needed air.

I glanced to my right and picked up my new best friend – my Glock. Thankfully, the silencer was still screwed on. It had done its job and kept anyone from hearing a shot, which meant no suspicious humans. They'd just have to find the Animins.

Don't get me wrong – I'm _not _a killer. If I was, I wouldn't be _me. _The Glock may be loaded with bullets, but I don't aim to kill. I learned all the different spots to hit from Jeb – to incapacitate, but not to kill. Sometimes it actually is useful to have a freaking annoying voice in your head.

I sighed, picking up the Glock, and picked myself up from the ground as my breathing finally returned to normal. I walked out of the alley without a second glance, rejoining the throngs of London people.

Oh, yeah, that's one change that I forgot to mention:

The _no guns _rule was the first to go.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, I couldn't last long without talking to you guys. So sue me. And besides, didn't you miss hearing my pitiful excuses for not updating? –grins innocently- And this is rated teen for a reason. Let's just keep that in mind. I'm really sorry if there's a mistake - I looked it over, but I'm kind of rushing, so I apologize. **

**I'm sure you're all waiting for chapter two, so without further ado –**

* * *

So I had to admit, I was a little pissed. Since the Animins had found me – _again – _it meant I had to move. Even though it's not like I have a house or anything, it still majorly sucks moving from place to place. I'd like to sleep in the same place, I don't know, _twice? _If that's not too much to ask.

It had begun to rain, but the rain in London is way different from the rain in America. In America, after it rains, it seems cleaner. In London, the rain stirs up the mud and muck from the streets, it's cold, wet, and basically disgusting. And grey.

Spring in London. _Yay. _But that's just my take on it. Who knows, the Brits might like it.

I put my head down to shield myself from the rain and wove through the crowd, attempting not to bump into anyone. It made being unseen a lot easier not shepherding five other people, I realized as the guilt knife stabbed me again. That time had really hurt, too.

I sloshed down the sidewalk down to a deserted building I'd spotted earlier. I figured it had a roof – couldn't be too bad of a place to sleep for the night. Maybe tomorrow I'd think of a farther place to be. It had been awhile since the Animins had found me – I'd actually lasted a whole two weeks. Maybe if I dyed my hair red or something, I could go a month!

Okay, so sarcasm was the only thing that kept me going. You got a problem with that? Didn't think so.

On closer inspection, the building looked like it had been deserted for a long time. A rusted sign declared, _CONDEMNED, _but obviously the construction peeps had taken their sweet time getting to this building. I thanked my lucky stars before doing a quick 360 surveillance. Absolutely no one was watching, following, or trying to off me. Excellent. Exhaling a sigh of relief, I made my way inside.

The interior was just as gross and scruffy as the outside, but thankfully, it was dry. Choosing not to hang around in the former lobby, I made camp in a side room and set my backpack down on the dirty floor. A cloud of displaced dust rose up around it, and I resisted the urge to cough. _It's been worse, it's been worse, it's been worse, _I chanted in my head. God. I _had _to say that if I was going to convince my poor body it had to lay down on this joke of a floor.

What was left of several joints were lying in the filth next to my backpack. I wrinkled my nose and swept them away with my foot. Staring warily at the ground for any other unpleasant surprises, I arranged my backpack into a comfy pillow position and closed my eyes, more than ready for a little bit of good ole shut eye.

_**Max. Wait, don't go to sleep yet. It's me. **_

I groaned out loud and squeezed my eyes shut. _Jeb, I was just in a fight with a pair of Animin twins. Can you give it a rest so that I can sleep? For once? _

_**Sorry, **_he apologized, but I don't think that he meant it. _**This is really important, Max. It's about your second voice. **_

That did it. I was paying attention now. _What about it? _

_**I – never mind. Are you sure you want to hear this? It's not exactly good news. **_

_Never is. Not anymore. _

_**Well, I have some good news first. You can get rid of me if you want to. **_

_Huh? _

_**I'm transmitted into your brain by a chip in your leg. It can be easily taken out at any time, if you wish to get rid of me. **_

My eyes popped wide open again. That was news to me. _Are you serious?_

_**Completely. Would I lie to you?**_

_That one doesn't work on me, stupid. You already _have.

_**It's in your left leg, **_he continued, ignoring that comment. _**You can't take it out without major damage, but I believe the transmission process can be halted. **_

_It's almost as if you don't want to talk to me anymore, _I said, pretending to be hurt.

_**Well, there's bad news, too, remember. **_

_Always the killjoy. _

_**I know where the second voice is transmitted from.**_

I waited for him to continue, but he had paused. _Well? _I prompted. _Where? _

_**It's…in your brain, Max. And I don't think that Itex is going to be eager to switch it off any time soon. **_

I blanched. Of all the things to tell me…_Are you freaking shitting me? _I asked, not even bothering to check my language. _This has got to be some sick joke._

Silence. Shock flooded through me. He _wasn't _lying. _Oh, crap. This is NOT happening. It can't be. _

_**I hate to be the one to tell you this. **_

_Well, what were you going to do, send the Dough Boy from those commercials? You had to tell me. Get over it. We have bigger problems here, like how the heck I'm supposed to stop it. _

_**Max, you can't. Unless you want to commit suicide, and only by a blow to the head, I'm afraid that you're stuck with that voice for life – or at least until the second voice dies, whoever he or she is. **_

I felt like I was drowning. Was there no _end? _Itex just kept screwing up my life. Not only did they take away any chances of a normal life before I was even _born, _but after I'm given a family, that's ripped away as well.

_I can't go back to the flock while I still have this voice, _I 'whispered' in my head to Jeb. _So basically I'll never see them again. _

I took his silence to mean yes.

Oh, my god. God, no. This wasn't happening to me. Understanding that I had to leave them temporarily was hard enough, especially making them believe that I had deserted them. I hadn't expected to be gone for a year. I had planned to somehow get rid of my second voice and come flying back to my flock to beg – yes, _beg – _for forgiveness. I had given it a month, maybe three tops. Not a year.

And especially not a lifetime.

I took a deep, shaky breath. _I can't do this. _

_**You can. And you will. You'll make it through, Max. **_

_For a whole lifetime?! Or just until my expiration date shows up? _

_**It won't show up for years, Max. **_

_And you know this…how? _

_**Because they told me when they programmed it to be. **_

_That is SICK. Sick and wrong. They programmed when I was going to die? How much longer do I have left? _

_**Do you really want to know the day that you're going to die? **_

On second thought, _no_. It would mess up the rest of the days of living.

_**Max, **_he said, in an attempt to soothe. It didn't work. _**Go to sleep. **_

And bam. Just like that, I was out.

- - - - -

The next day dawned much, much too early for my liking. I woke up stiff and cramped from sleeping in a ball, and the second I opened my eyes I inhaled a huge cloud of dust, which sent me hacking and sneezing for a whole five minutes. It was _not _the way I would have chosen to wake up.

I wiped my nose from my sneezing and got up, still sniffling a little from the dust. I brushed the dirt off of my clothes and hoisted my backpack onto my shoulders. It was time for me to get out of London. It had been fun, but they knew where I was now. I had to go. Pity. I had actually really liked it here, when I wasn't reliving memories of the time when Nudge, Angel, Total and I were here all those months ago.

I managed to get out of the building and halfway down the street before anything drastic happened. Then, it all went downhill.

The second voice decided to pay me a little visit.

_**Max, I need you to do something for me, **_it said in what was supposed to be a persuasive voice. I think.

_And that would be…? _

_**Well, I would do something for you in return. I'll give it to you now – the location of the Flock. I know where they are, Max. You could find them – go back to them. Isn't that what you want? To be reunited with your flock? It would be just like old times. **_

I tried not to let on how tempting this was for me, even though I knew it must be lying. _What do you want me to do?_

_**I want you to kill Fang, Max. If you kill him, we won't kill the rest of the flock. Itex has them in their sights. They know exactly where they're living right now. If you don't return to them within three days to dispatch of Fang, then they will kill the entire flock. Do you understand? **_

I understood, alright, and so did my heart. It felt like it was drenched in ice. My choice was to lose one member of my flock – or _all _of them. What was I supposed to do? I can't make that kind of choice. It wasn't fair to ask me that.

_**They're in Germany, Max. In Berlin. They left the U.S. after the wars started. They want you to come back to them, Max. They miss you. **_

_Stop. You're lying to me. Quit messing with my head. _

_**I'm not. I'm offering you an opportunity. You could have your life back. **_

I glanced out at the streets as rows of British soldiers marched by, apparently on to help the United States in the recent war. My life was never going to be the same. Itex had already started to change the world, and even if they were stopped, nothing would be as it was before this happened. Nothing.

I had to find someway to stall the second voice. Maybe if I made it believe that I was going to kill Fang, it would give me the three days to come up with a plan. If I made it to Germany in two days…maybe one if I pushed myself…

But no – I'd be too close to Fang, and I might slip up. I couldn't let that happen.

_Fine. I'll do it. You win, okay? _I said in mock anguish. _Just don't hurt the rest of my flock. Give me the three days. I need…I need to come to terms with what I have to do. _

_**I see I've finally gotten through to you, **_the second voice purred. _**See you in three days. **_

I sat down on the curb and put my head in my hands, resisting the urge to curl up and bawl.

I am so screwed.

* * *

**A/N: Review. I order you.**

**Okay, I don't really. Please review? I will love you forever. Seriously. I ADORE reviewers. Anyway…**

**Is anyone a NaNoWriMo participant this month? One novel – 50,000 words – in one month! Whooo! (Man, this is hard. Fanfiction AND a novel? No. Hence the long gap.)**


	4. Chapter 3

_I sincerely, truly, hate my life, _I thought as I dashed through the German streets.

So, right now, you're probably thinking, for God's sake, we've heard this all before! Yeah, you hate your life, it sucks, you're on the run, move on with the story, Max, come on. And by the way, why the heck are you in Germany?

Okay, you're half right. I have said this before. But my life before was much better than it is now. And as for the Germany part, well, I'll let you see for yourself.

_-Flashback-_

I opened my eyes, slightly bleary, and sat up. I grimaced at the taste in my mouth as I ran fingers through my matted hair in a feeble attempt to comb it through. Giving up, I dumped some water in my mouth from a bottle, swished it around, and spat, relieving myself some of the morning taste.

I sighed. It was a new day. Whoop de freaking do.

_**Max! Good news! **_

It was Jeb, and I was instantly intrigued. It wasn't often that he actually brought _good _news. _So? It is?_ I asked.

_**Well, good and bad news. **_

_I should have known. Spit it out already, then. _

_**I know who your second voice is. **_

_You're kidding, _I replied, my eyes widening. _How? When? _

_**Last night. I put the Director's office under surveillance. She thinks that it's extra security, but only I know that it's a camera to watch her. **_

_So who's my voice number two?_

_**Max, I would have thought it obvious – the Director. Marian Janssen is your second voice. **_

My heart stopped beating. Oh, my God.

Of _course. _Why hadn't I seen it before? The smug hints, the encounters between the two of us – she always seemed to be behind everything. I had passed it off as her status as Director. Now I knew why.

She was the one controlling me – the one pulling all of my strings.

Jeb could feel my shock. _**Max – you can't get her out of your head. **_

_Why is she doing this to me? _I asked, ignoring his comment. _Revenge? _

I felt his mental sigh. _**I don't know, Max. Revenge, spite, cruel enjoyment – only time will tell. **_

_I'll kill her, _I vowed, knowing it wasn't true even as I said it. _She's destroyed my life. _

_**It may be necessary. **_

_WHAT?! _I shrieked. _What do you mean, 'it may be necessary'? KILL her?_

Silence.

_Jeb. Jeb, I swear to god, if you don't answer me right now I'll kill you instead. Answer me, damn it!_

_**Yes, Max. **_

_You mean I have to kill her. _The anger seeped away, replaced by horror and clear understanding.

_**Look, Max, I'm sorry – **_

_Can it. It won't help. _I ended the conversation and wrapped my arms around my knees. I felt like howling, but contained it, slowly wiping any emotion from my face. Three guesses who I learned that from.

_Killing. _I'd done it before, but that had been an accident, and besides, Ari had come back to life eventually. But never had it been premeditated, I'd never woken up one morning and decided to kill someone in cold blood.

That wasn't me. I couldn't do that.

But what was I supposed to do? Sit and waste away until my expiration date kicked in, knowing that I had left my flock on horrible terms?

I don't think so.

_I won't do it, _I said, not caring if Jeb could hear me or not. _I won't kill her. I'll find another way. I'm going back to my flock if it kills me. Where is she? _

He sighed. _**Germany. **_

_Perfect. _I had been headed there anyway, to attempt to stall my second voice from killing my flock. Maybe this would make it easier.

I sure hoped so.

_-End flashback-_

So there you have it. Why I was in Germany, and why my life officially freaking sucks.

It had been a cinch to get from England to Germany, especially with super speed. Now, I was facing the problem of just how I was going to convince her to deactivate the chip – and more importantly, how I was going to stop her from killing my flock.

I hated being in a country that didn't speak a language I understood. It made me feel like everyone could be talking about me and I would never know. Unsurprisingly, there weren't many people that traveled past the Itex fortress. They had probably purposefully started a rumor along the lines of 'haunted house'.

Well, they were pretty much right.

Unfortunately, this time there weren't any marching experiments that I could join in order to sneak inside. The yard was mostly empty, except for a few stray Animins that patrolled the borders. I had no doubts that the Director had ensured that the electrical field was replaced above the walls, so just flying in was out. I was tempted to see just how high up the field extended, but I valued life much more.

Then, I had a flash of brilliance. God, I am a freaking _genius! _Okay, not really. My amazing, flash-of-intuition plan was to wait – not here, but at her home. She _had _to come out of her stone fortress eventually – and when she did, I would be waiting back in her likely huge house.

Okay. That image was kind of creepy. But hey, if it works, who am I to complain?

_Hey, Jeb! _I shouted mentally. _Can you get me Janssen's address? _

_**No need to shout, **_he grumbled. _**Piece of cake, it's in her database. She lives here. **_He gave me the address, but you're crazy if you think I'm going to write it here. That's the last thing I need – a bunch of Maximum Ride fans crashing her place in protest. Funny, but _no. _

Operation Take-Down-Evil-Psycho was a go.

* * *

Surprisingly, Marian Janssen did _not _live in a huge house, like I thought she would. She lived in a pretty non-descript apartment in Berlin. She probably has bigger and better places all around the world. I mean, come on, she wants to _rule _the world. You know the woman has money.

I tried the door to the building, but it was locked. I glanced at the intercom, wondering who would hear me if I spoke into it. I grinned as an idea came to mind. Pressing the button, I called into the speaker, "Cable!" A loud buzzing noise sounded, and the lock clicked.

Too easy.

I ascended the flight of stairs just inside the door and climbed up to the third floor, to room 303. The landing reeked slightly of sweat and unwashed bodies, and my nose wrinkled slightly. Even in the dim half-light of the building, I picked out the peeling numbers that read _303. _Bingo.

I dug in my pocket for my lock picking tool and inserted it into the knob. Within seconds, it was open. For the first time, I felt a sense of dread creeping into me. I was cautious, yeah – I'm not stupid – but something was wrong here. This was way too easy.

I swung the door open quietly, scanning the entire room for anyone that might be lurking in wait for me. Seeing nothing, I shut the door without a sound, still listening intently. Then, my heart skipped a beat. There it was. The unmistakable sound of someone breathing. I froze, not moving a muscle.

"Hello, Max," said a smug voice. "I thought you might come here."

I whirled. Marian Janssen was stepping out from behind a shelf on the other side of the room, a smile curving her lips triumphantly. I couldn't believe that I had fallen for this. She had known. She had known all along that I would do this. I was just the mouse in the maze, running blindly for the prize that didn't exist.

"You're too predictable," she continued, beginning to walk towards me. "You'll do anything – _anything – _to save your flock, and now it's going to be your downfall."

"What are you talking about?" I asked her suspiciously.

She laughed once, quietly, stopping when she was face to face with me. "You're not as bright as we meant you to be, Max. If you were, you would never have come here. You would have stayed in England, relatively safe. Or at least safer than you are right now."

My mind was racing, reviewing escape routes, analyzing what she'd said for any hidden meanings. But at the same time, one small part of it had frozen when she had said the word _flock_.

"I want you to deactivate my chip," I said, changing the subject. "Now."

One blond eyebrow raised. "Maybe you _aren't _a complete failure," she assessed, meeting my defiant stare. "Figured it out, have you? That I'm the voice in your head?"

"You've been torturing me for over a year," I said, my voice shaking with suppressed anger. "What the heck could you get out of that?"

"It was an experiment, Max," she said coldly. "You should have guessed that by now."

"End it."

"It's not that easy," she replied. "You see, you and your flock are threats. We are _saving the world, _Max, but you obviously can't comprehend that. We have to save humans from themselves, and if we must sacrifice lives for that cause, we shall. You are standing in our way."

"Damn right I am," I answered. "But three _billion _lives? That's not saving, that's mass genocide!"

"If that's what it takes, I'll do it!" the Director exclaimed. "Animins can be dispatched on my signal to this apartment to take you in. Your flock will be sent a message that we have you in custody, and when they come to save you, we'll get them too. You all must be retired."

Marian Janssen continued, unable to resist listening to the intoxicating sound of her own voice. "It was clever, what you did, leaving your flock. I thought the plan was nearly destroyed. But, as you can see, some remnants of it were recovered." She smiled slightly.

"Actually, that's another question that's been nagging at me," I said, my voice light. "Why Fang?"

She laughed again. "Max, I would have thought it obvious. I needed you out of the way. If you were driven enough to kill Fang, you would destroy yourself. With their leader out for the count and the second in command dead, the flock would be destroyed, and Itex would be free to finally save the world." Her eyes turned cold. "You are necessary casualties."

I whipped the Glock out of its spot in my bag and aimed it at her, eyes narrowed. "Deactivate the chip," I ordered. "Or I'll shoot."

"You won't," she challenged, but I could see the first real flicker of fear in her eyes. "If you kill me, you'll never deactivate the chip."

"But I won't have an annoying voice in my head anymore, either," I replied. "And if I don't, I can go back to my flock. So you see, I really don't have a problem shooting you."

She took an unconscious step backward. "You wouldn't."

"I seem to remember that it was you, not me, who was falling through the air not too far from here," I reminded her. "I might not have Nudge with me this time, but I'm pretty sure I can lift you up on my own. If you'd rather me do that than shoot you."

"Alright, alright!" she exclaimed. "Just don't shoot." I kept the gun trained on her all the same. She hadn't followed through with anything yet. She didn't need to know that I actually wouldn't do it. Right now, it was getting me what I wanted.

"One more thing," I continued, on a whim. "I want files. I want to know who the flock's parents are."

"I can't give that to you," she disagreed.

My finger tightened on the trigger.

"No, really, I can't!" she pleaded. "They're not here. I don't really live here."

"Then deactivate the chip already."

She moved into the sitting room and picked up a device from an armchair. It didn't look like anything special – just a black remote. She pressed a button, and I flinched, ready for it to be a trick and a remote to some kind of bomb – but nothing happened.

"What did you just do?" I asked warily.

She grinned. "I hope you enjoy Itex, Max, because that's where you're headed."

"No!" I exclaimed, realizing what she had done - she had called the Animins.

"But before you go," she continued, "let me tell you a little story. Once upon a time, there was a young woman named Valencia Martinez. Ring a bell?" She tapped a finger on the remote she had used. "She met a man named Jeb Batchelder at a bar. Things went a little too far, and there you were. Just a mistake."

"No," I whispered.

She looked straight into my eyes, calculating my reaction. "She didn't want a baby, and neither did he. Itex was a savior to them. We gave them an opportunity, told them that you would be a very special child. She agreed. When you were born, she never saw you. She didn't want to. She didn't love you, Max."

"NO!" I shouted, clenching my fists reflexively.

BANG.

I stood for a second, stunned, staring at the gun I had temporarily forgotten was in my hand. Slowly, I looked up, dreading what I would see.

Marian Janssen lay on the floor, spread eagled, with a hole through her stomach and a bright red stain seeping across her crisp white shirt. Her eyes stared at the ceiling, glassy and unseeing.

"No," I breathed. "Oh, no, no, no, no, this isn't happening. Oh, my god." I stumbled backwards, as far away as I could get. "I'm sorry," I whispered, but it was too late for her to hear me.

The next thing I knew, I was on the street – running.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay – this is going to be long, but I couldn't resist posting all of this. I've had it written for months! Can you blame me? Anyway, I have a gift for you...look below...**

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* * *

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**Fang POV**

"Fang. Wake up." A foot nudged his ribs gently.

Fang's eyes flew open, and he was instantly wide awake. Sitting up, he surveyed the camp quickly. Four flock members – all accounted for. Well, all except for one, but she had been missing for awhile now. She didn't count anymore.

He glanced at Iggy, who was stretching, his long body towering above Fang. "Nothing eventful happened last night. Itex hasn't found us again yet," the blond said, cloudy eyes staring off into the distance as if searching for something.

Fang nodded and then pushed himself up off of the ground to wake Angel. Ever since they had been spotted a few days ago by a group of German bird watchers – go figure – Itex had known they were in the area, and hadn't stopped searching. If Iggy and the Gasman hadn't felt the irrepressible _need _to set off a bomb right by the Director's apartment last night, they wouldn't have had to make a run for it, taking cover in the woods miles away.

Those were _very _long miles.

"Morning, Fang," Nudge said, glancing up and smiling brightly. Amazingly, she was awake already. That didn't happen often, unless she'd had a nightmare and couldn't go back to sleep. He suspected that was what had happened last night.

"Look at this," Iggy interrupted, recapturing Fang's attention. He tossed a newspaper towards him. "Nudge went out to get this earlier. It was front page news."

He read the headline, and his eyes widened a fraction. "No way."

"Way," Iggy confirmed.

"There were people swarming all over the place this morning," Nudge added, piping up from across the campsite. "It was insane. I only stayed for a bit because I was afraid that they'd recognize me."

"Smart," Fang muttered, still preoccupied by the paper. Though he didn't know German, he could pick out the words for 'death' and 'woman', and the city name, Berlin. Below the headline, there was a name – Marian Janssen. The almighty Director of Itex was dead.

"Who do you think did it?" Iggy asked.

Fang shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe it was random."

"But for it to magically be the Director…" Iggy trailed off skeptically. "Dude, this could solve, like, half our problems. Maybe it was one of your crazy blog readers."

Fang snorted. "I doubt that."

"Should we leave?" Iggy asked.

Fang frowned. He wasn't sure.

"So, who do you think?" Nudge asked him, unable to keep quiet.

"I don't know, Nudge," Fang replied.

But Nudge wouldn't let it go. "Fang…what if…"

He didn't like where this was going. "What?"

"What if it was Max?" she asked quietly.

She'd done it. She'd gone too far.

His face shut down even more, if it was possible. "I don't think so."

"But, Fang," she persisted, "what if it was? I mean, who else would do that? As far as we know, there's no one else fighting Itex out there, and none of us did it. I know you didn't even though I was asleep because I heard the police talking and it was a nine millimeter gun that shot her. You don't have that. Seriously, Fang, who else could it be?"

She was going into dangerous territory, and she knew it. They almost never talked about Max – it was too painful for all of them, Fang included. It was just a line that didn't get crossed.

He could tell the rest of the flock thought that he wasn't hurting anymore, not at all. He hid what he felt too well. But in reality, he couldn't hear Max's name, couldn't think it, without threatening to release the emotions he was keeping carefully locked up. It was for his own good.

He looked at Nudge and sighed at the hopeful look on her face. Poor kid. She wanted Max back. They all did.

"Maybe," was all he said, and then he knelt to wake up Angel, signifying the end of their conversation.

* * *

I have never wanted to die more than I did then.

To tell you the truth, I don't remember much of that next day, or the day after that. I only remember flashes of emotion – horror, regret, sadness, guilt. None of those were very pleasant, and I don't feel like reliving that, so I'm going to just shut up.

By the time I was entirely sensible, I was in a cave. I guess I flew there, because I still had enough sense to go somewhere where I couldn't be found. I didn't _completely _lose it, but I might as well have.

_The flock, _I thought. _I've got to find the flock. _But would they even want me back, after all that I've done now? First I leave them, and then I go off and kill someone – never mind that it was the Director of All Things Evil and Itex, I _killed _someone.

Who was I anymore?

That was the first night that I dreamed.

"Max…Max…" the Director's voice was calling me. I placed my hands over my ears childishly.

"Max…"

"It's not real, it's not real, it's not real," I whispered, tears beginning to drip down my face.

Blond hair brown shelves red blood red red blood…

Marian Janssen stood before me, eyes flashing with hurt and pain. Her shirt was stained bright red with blood. "Why?" she asked me, her voice echoing. "Why did you do this to me?" Her voice reverberated off of the walls, filled my ears.

"I'M SORRY!" I shouted. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO! GO AWAY! You're not real! Not real! A, B, C, D, E, F, G…"

"Max…"

"H, I..I…J, K…L, M, N, O, P…"

"Max…"

"I can't hear you," I sang, covering my ears. I started giggling through the tears. "Can't hear you…Q, R, S…"

And then I woke up, gasping and covered in a sheen of cold sweat. I looked around me frantically, searching for any sign of ghosts back to haunt me. But I was alone.

Somehow, that scared me more than it reassured me.

* * *

It was two days after...the incident, we'll call it - that I finally got the courage to find my flock. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't avoiding them or anything. Okay, maybe I was. But could you blame me? A year had gone by since I had seen them last, and we hadn't exactly left on good terms.

The Director had said that they were in Berlin. I wasn't sure if I believed her or not – she'd lied to me way too many times before. But Berlin, I decided, was as good a place to start as any. After all, they _had _been sighted here. Maybe they hadn't left yet.

It was unlikely, but hey. It was also unlikely that the recombinant DNA test subjects would survive, and yet, here I am.

I abandoned my wings for the rest of the day, so to speak. I wanted hard work, and walking made me concentrate on things more than flying did. We flew higher than most birds, so we didn't have to worry about hitting anything except for the occasional plane. On the other hand, everyone was on the ground. Enough said.

My cave was well outside of Berlin, but I was closer to the forests. Somehow, I doubted that my flock would be in the city. Maybe they'd be here. Or maybe they'd left and were in the skies far above me, carefree.

Gah. I hate my thoughts.

Looking carefully for anyone who had decided to take a nice stroll through the outdoors, I spread my wings and soared out of the mouth of the cave, towards the trees. Yeah, yeah. I _know _I just said I wouldn't use my wings. But I had to get down without killing myself, and for that, wings were essential.

I landed just at the edge of the trees and tucked my wings in, folding them close to my body. Fighting through the thick growth was difficult, but hard, sweaty work was just what I wanted right now. It kept my mind off of the things I didn't exactly want to think about right now.

One hour later, I was wondering why I didn't just fly into the middle of the forest instead of battling nature, which nearly always wins. Cursing under my breath, I attempted to creep through the branches. Me trying to be stealthy while traipsing through a forest didn't always work.

Vengefully, a branch decided to whip out and cut me across the face. "Ow!" I breathed, biting my lip. "Son of a-"

Then I froze. I could hear voices.

Holding my breath, I crept across the ground, praying to whatever deity was up there that I wouldn't step on a twig that would give me away. I silently moved a branch that obscured my vision and peered into the small clearing.

Nothing was immediately visible, but on closer inspection, I could see a figure draped across a tree branch, and looked closer. That silhouette looked very, very familiar. I looked closer, and restrained myself from gasping.

It was Gazzy. He was lying across the branch, legs dangling off the edge, fiddling idly with something in his hands. His blond, curly hair had grown much longer, and he seemed to have sprouted another four inches. Tears threatened to well up in my eyes. The Director hadn't been lying. They really _had _still been in Berlin. What had kept them here? How had I found them here by chance? Was this just another test?

I pushed down the thoughts that were rising up in my head and simply contented myself with looking, eagerly absorbing the sight. Peering through the twigs, I was rewarded with another sighting. There was Nudge, her normally crazy hair miraculously done into one long braid. Wisps of brown hair were escaping from it around her uncharacteristically serious face. She was speaking – of course – to Angel, who looked so much the same. Same bouncy blond curls, same smile, my same baby. Her eyes were different, though – more aged than the last time I'd seen her. Regret flashed through me. I shouldn't have left.

My eyes flicked past Angel to Iggy. God, he'd gotten so _tall! _What was he, six five, six six? God, if I hadn't missed him. Life was quiet with no explosions. There was a new scar on his forearm that I didn't remember. I frowned. _Iggy, what did you do?_

Then there was only one more.

My thoughts were reluctant to turn to him, but my body betrayed me, snapping my head around so fast I swear my neck almost cracked. He was crouched, hands on knees, staring pensively into the forest ahead of him – facing away from me. I was torn between regret and relief that I couldn't see his face. I wasn't sure how much I could handle today. Even from behind, I could tell that every muscle in his body was tense.

_Fang. _

I must have sighed or something, because suddenly Iggy's head snapped around in my direction. Oh, crap. I'm screwed.

"What is it?" Fang asked. I bet only I could tell that he'd tensed, or that beneath the calm exterior emotions were boiling. Unless things had changed.

"A person," breathed Iggy. It would have been inaudible to human ears, but my super sensitive hearing picked it up. "Someone's watching us."

I began backing up slowly, taking care not to make any noise. Maybe I wouldn't go back. Maybe I'd just leave. My eyes flitted around the site, drinking in my last sight of the flock. Then I noticed that someone was missing. Where had Nudge gone?

Then I realized. Oh, shit.

I tensed to turn, but too late. Nudge had my hands behind my back and a knife at my throat. "Don't move," she whispered. "Don't even nod. Just say, 'Okay'."

"Okay," I whispered back.

"Good. Now, let's see who Itex sent after us." She turned me around, and we were face to face. I could see her face flash from suspicion to surprise and glee. Her eyes widened to the size of plates. "_Max!" _she cried.

"Max?" Fang had stood up from his spot and was now looking in our direction. "What are you talking about, Nudge?"

"No! She's here! I _told _you, Fang!" Nudge's face was shining, but then it shut down again. "Wait a sec. I'll let you see her." She brought me into the clearing, where the sunlight wasn't blocked by trees.

I didn't know what to do. What the heck was I supposed to say? "Hey, guys," I settled finally settled for, feeling sheepish.

Great, Max. Real witty.

"Who are you?" Fang asked, meeting my eyes.

Ooh. That hurt. I knew he was just being cautious, making sure I wasn't a clone or spy, but all the same.

"It's me," I replied. "Max. I swear." I met his gaze, willing him to believe me.

Fang looked at me, calculating, and crossed his arms. I'd almost forgotten how he was so…I didn't even know how to explain it. He was my best friend – just his presence soothed me – but not when he was like this. _Oh, god, Fang. You've just got to believe me. Please believe me. _

"Tell me something only Max would know," he challenged. His dark eyes were suspicious. I had taught him that caution. Told him to remember not to trust anyone. Would that backfire on me now?

I swallowed. "Abensi. Otro." Code for – It's me. I swear. "If that's not enough, when we were eleven, I heard the word emo on MTV and decided it described you. You got mad and chased me around the house for the rest of the day until I agreed never to call you that again."

Angel's eyes lit up. "It _is _her! No one else would know that! Max!" She scrambled up to run to me, but Fang shook his head and gave her a warning look. She fell back reluctantly, casting a wistful glance at me. Dang. I don't think I ever had that kind of control.

"Come with me," he said tersely. He spread his wings, took a few steps, and leaped into the air, becoming air born with a few hard strokes. He looked back over his shoulder at me once. Knowing he wanted me to follow, I unfurled my own wings and leaped up after him.

He headed south through the woods for five minutes. I noticed he didn't keep me at his back for long, preferring to keep me in his line of sight. Reasonable, I guess. But still, it made me sad that he was protecting himself from me. From _me. _We had grown up together, and he was afraid of me.

Wait until he found out what I'd done recently.

When we landed, he turned immediately to face me. I stumbled a bit on touchdown, but you could hardly hear a twig snap under his feet. I felt inferior to Fang for the first time in my life. If you could call it that. Maybe existence was a better word now.

"So," he began. "Talk." He was angry, I could tell. Well, he had good reason.

I couldn't look at him. How was I supposed to start? 'The voice never left and it wanted me to kill you?' That's convincing. "I had to make you hate me. You couldn't come after me."

"Well, you succeeded," he said cruelly. "Why? You left us. We were on the brink of war and you left us, you frickin' _left _us." His voice raised the slightest bit, and I could hear the anger simmering behind it.

"I was afraid," I mumbled, still looking at the ground. I already felt horrible. Typical Fang to make me feel worse.

"Yeah, I guessed that." The bitterness in his voice pierced me through. "Max, I thought…I thought you…" He shook his head in disgust. "Never mind."

"I – I do love you, Fang," I said, knowing what he meant. "That's why I had to leave. It was for your own good." He crossed his arms again and stared at me impassively, waiting for me to continue. It was time for some major persuading.

"I could have killed you." I looked up all the way, waiting for his reaction.

He was interested now, in spite of himself. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember that voice? The second one?" Images flashed by my eyes at rapid speed, and I resisted the urge to shake my head rapidly. No. Not here. Not now.

"You said it was gone."

"It never was," I said, shaking my head. "I didn't want you to know. It told me to – to kill you." He was listening carefully now. I had his full attention.

"It got worse everyday. Do you remember all of those really weird mood swings that I'd have? That was the voice. I was afraid I would snap and do what it told me to. I wouldn't be able to live with myself. And the rest of the flock…" I bit my lip. "It would devastate them. I couldn't let that happen. So I had to leave. But I knew whatever I did, you'd follow me."

"_Just leave me ALONE, Fang!" I shouted, throwing my bag onto my shoulders. _

"_Max, just wait-"_

"_No!" _

"That's why you had to lie."

I nodded.

"And what about this?" he asked me, producing a paper from his backpack. I looked at the front page and caught Marian Janssen's name. I closed my eyes, not wanting to look at it. "Was this you, too?"

Eyes still closed, I nodded again.

I heard pages rustle as he put the paper back into his backpack, and opened my eyes again warily. He was staring at me again, eyes slightly narrowed. Deciding. "Do you believe me?" I asked him, dreading his answer.

Slowly, he nodded. I sighed in relief. Thank god.

"But."

"There's always a but." He didn't smile.

"Anything funny, Max. Anything at all – and I will kick your ass out myself. Got it?"

I nodded. I respected that. Resented it, yeah. But respected it all the same.

* * *

Fang stared into the darkness, his jaw working. Well, it had certainly been one eventful day. Max was long asleep, not even attempting to ask to take watch. She had known he wouldn't let her. He wasn't quite ready to trust her that far yet.

"Angel?" he asked, rousing the seven year old regretfully. He needed to make sure of something before he could rest easily.

She stirred, then sat up and turned her blue eyes toward him. The innocence in those eyes was long gone, replaced by the knowledge of an adult. Fang missed that innocence so badly.

"Yeah, Fang?" she asked, snapping him out of his reverie.

"What are you getting from her?" he asked, knowing she would understand who he was talking about.

Angel took a deep breath. "Lots. It's Max, alright, though. Not a clone or anything. And I don't think that we need to be afraid of her. No, not afraid," she said in a whisper. "But Fang…her thoughts are so _different. _Like, they're Max, but not." Fang just nodded at this, confused at her words. Angel _was _only seven, after all. She couldn't be expected to put everything she heard to words.

He started to turn away, thinking she was finished, but she continued, "I can hear the old Max most of the time, but…she thinks she's going crazy. And she hates herself sometimes. She wishes for you to believe all the way. She missed us a lot. And she loves you, Fang. Always."

Fang looked away. "Why did she leave, Fang?" Angel whispered. "I can only hear what they're thinking at the time. She didn't think about that."

Fang debated whether he should tell her or not. Either way, she would find out – if she wanted to, nothing would stop her. "She did it to protect us," he said finally. "So we wouldn't get hurt."

"Did Itex threaten her?"

"Something like that."

Angel could see that he was done talking, and offered half a smile. "Kay. Night, Fang." She held out her fist, and, knowing what she meant, he stacked his on top of hers and tapped the side. Content, she dropped off to sleep again.

Fang only wished that he could be so lucky.

He poked at the dying embers of the fire with a stick and sighed, looking at Max's sleeping form. He had never totally believed that Max would just up and leave them for a year. She wasn't like that. But after she left, he had slowly shut down every emotion he'd had for her – protectiveness, respect, maybe – probably – even love. He hadn't been able to afford to feel those anymore. It was too dangerous. Eventually, he'd succeeded.

After all his hard work, just the sight of her had brought them all crashing back.

It had taken all of his will power that next morning to leave the cave. Nudge, Angel and Gazzy had all been puffy eyed from crying, and Iggy had been silent and crabby. Fang knew that Iggy had been hurting just as badly as the rest of them, but, like Fang himself, refused to show it.

Those first few days had been torture. _Everything _reminded him of Max – the way they flew, a stubborn look in Nudge's eyes, a picture of a seashell, just opening his eyes was a risk. He was bound to see something that caused him pain.

And then Itex started to take over. The wars started. Things got worse. The part of his heart that he'd shut away wanted Max back so badly. They'd seen what happened when he tried to lead. It hadn't been pretty. But so far, this time, he was doing okay.

Max rolled over, still asleep. She was restless, he could see, always worried about something. A ghost of a smile flitted across his face – his first in a long time. Max. He couldn't believe she would betray them – but at the same time, it was hard to just accept her. So much had changed. She'd caused him so much pain. It was only fair that she suffer, too. Besides, he wasn't sure if his heart could handle letting her back in.

So – just for now – she stayed locked out.

* * *

**A/N: Holy cow. I really hope you liked that. –crosses fingers— I've had parts of that written since JANUARY. So…I hope it wasn't all just a piece of crap. **

**Please review. I updated really fast this time. :D**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for the great positive response I got on the last chapter, guys! I really appreciate everyone who has so far reviewed or added this story to favorites or alerts. If I could list all of you here, I would – but there's simply too many, which is amazing. It means a lot to me – keep it up!**

I came awake slowly the next morning, my body slowly dragging me into consciousness. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter. I did _not _want to wake up and face the fact that once again, I was alone, without my flock. I didn't remember anything from before I'd fallen asleep...what had happened? Was I still in my cave? There were bits and pieces from a dream that I'd had still floating in my mind – I ignored them. If it had been a good dream, it would only make me miserable, and if it had been a nightmare, then it wasn't going to help me any to dwell on it.

I lay for awhile longer, eyes closed, listening to my surroundings. It wasn't long before I noticed something with a jolt – I _wasn't _alone. I could hear the even sounds of breathing around me, and if I listened harder, I could pick up the sound of a breeze ruffling the leaves of trees. My eyes flew open, and I sat up abruptly. As I took in my surroundings, everything came flooding back to me.

I _had _found the flock. I wasn't alone anymore. They actually didn't hate me. My nightmare was almost over.

On the other hand, I had still killed someone, but I wasn't going to dwell on that right now. Nope.

The entire flock was still asleep, I saw, but Fang was showing signs of waking up. I sat up further and allowed myself a slight smile. I shouldn't have been surprised that we still woke around the same time. I wrapped my arms around my knees and placed my chin on top. I was _starving, _and dying for breakfast, but I guessed that given my one year absence things might be a little strained.

You know, _maybe. _

Unlike me, Fang wasted no time in getting up. His body tensed when he gained consciousness, and his eyes snapped open not half a second later. He sat up and scanned the campsite thoroughly, his eyes finally ending on me. One corner of my mouth lifted in greeting. "Hey."

His eyes were unfathomable as he stared for one more second, then he nodded at me, his version of _good morning. _He stood and nudged Iggy, who had been knocked out not far away. The blind pyro came awake instantly, opening his eyes though they were no longer needed. "Morning, Fang," he yawned, stretching. He paused for a second, listening, and then added, "Hey, Max."

"Hey, Iggy," I said, maybe a little too brightly. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," he replied, unusually brief.

I sighed, trying not to show my disappointment show on my face. I guess I had known all along that it would take time for them to let me back in. But all the same, I'd still hoped for a miracle, that I would come back and the flock would live happily ever after.

Yeah, right. This is _my _life we're talking about here.

I glanced away from Iggy, casting my eyes around for something to focus on. I frowned. Nudge's eyes were half open, but she wasn't moving or talking, and her eyes were unfocused. A stab of panic lanced through me. She hadn't been knocked out, had she? Or–

"Relax," Fang said, noting what I was staring at. My head whipped around to look at him.

"What's wrong with Nudge?" I demanded.

"Nothing," Iggy answered, speaking for Fang. "She sleeps with her eyes open. Ever since someone decided to leave in the middle of the night while she was asleep."

Ouch. That hurt.

"Oh," I managed to get out, though it felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. "Got it." _Well, technically, she woke up before I was really gone…not like that helps or anything…_

It didn't take long for the rest of the flock to wake up, and soon they had a breakfast fire going. I wasn't allowed to do anything – again, Fang didn't trust me with anything yet, and he was the leader now – but it was kind of interesting, if not freaking heart jerking, to see how they got things done. Not that it was different – but I'd missed it. A year is too long to go without your family.

Ugh. I'm turning into a sappy Hallmark card. Someone slap me before any more mush comes out of my mouth.

"Max!" Angel sang happily, skipping over and dropping into my lap. I noticed Fang's scowl before quickly turning my face away from him.

"Yeah, sweetie?" I asked, forcing a smile onto my face and trying not to let her hear my thoughts. They weren't exactly suitable for a seven year old – but, judging by her aged eyes, a lot of the things that she'd heard weren't suitable for a seven year old.

She extended a hand that held a piece of toast and half an apple. "Breakfast?"

My smile was real this time. "Thanks, Angel. I'd love breakfast."

She smiled. "I knew you were hungry." Then she focused, and I could hear her voice in my mind. _Max, don't feel sad. _

I jumped. It had been awhile since she'd done that. _I'm not sad, _I lied quickly, even though I knew it was useless.

She laughed. _Fang's going to accept you back eventually. He just…he can't right now. It's kinda confusing. But he will. Just watch. _

"Angel?" interrupted the silent one in question. "Can you come here for a second?"

"Sure," Angel called back. "Bye, Max!"

I made the peace sign with my fingers. "See ya."

I won't bore you with the events of the morning. You probably don't care. All that you need to know is that things between me and the two oldest guys of the flock were strained. Neither of them felt like talking to me, and made it a point to ignore me. My two little guys, Angel and Gazzy, were cool with me. Well, Angel was obvious. You already saw that. But Gazzy was, too. Maybe it was because they were younger, maybe it wasn't. But anyway. Nudge, on the other hand, seemed kind of on the fence, torn between trying to be one of the older kids and not trusting me or if she should come running back.

Don't ask me how I can tell. Years of paranoia and reading faces, especially those of my family, have honed my ability.

After removing all traces of our stay from the area, Fang spoke to me. "We're getting out of here," he told me. "They'll be looking everywhere for evidence, so it's good you don't have fingerprints. Did you leave anything?" I knew what he meant – evidence to convict the Director's killer, and he was asking if I had left anything at the scene of the crime. (God, I sounded like something out of _CSI.) _

Oh, yeah, the no fingerprints thing. I wasn't made that way – everyone that's born has fingerprints, as I'm sure you know. A bad accident at the School had burned the fingerprints off of my hands. It had taken awhile for my sense of touch to come back to my fingers, but even though it had returned, my fingerprints did not. Perfect, huh? The perfect killer.

I make myself sick.

"No," I replied. "I didn't."

He nodded at me, and then tapped the back of Iggy's hand. "U and A, about fifty feet up then bank about twenty points west."

"Got it," Iggy replied.

I spread my wings, ready to take off into the air, as Fang called to the rest of the flock, "U and A!"

We didn't make it ten feet off of the ground.

Men dressed entirely in black began swarming into the clearing, all wearing masks that obscured the top half of their face. I could see no weapons on them, but it didn't mean they weren't dangerous – we were sadly outnumbered. Without even thinking, I jumped into action, landing a sharp knifehand swing to the neck of one and jabbing another in the gut with my elbow.

"Come with us!" one shouted, and I was surprised to hear that he was entirely human. He wasn't an Eraser, or Flyboy, or Animin – he was _human. _

So who were they with? And why were they here?

Around me, black figures were dropping like flies, but it seemed like more popped up as soon as we'd made a dent. I noticed Angel standing away from the fight out of the corner of my eye, and as I caught sight of her again it was obvious that she was concentrating. I punched one in the eye and was about to finish him off when he suddenly froze and fell to the ground.

_Thanks, Angel, _I thought, knowing she'd hear.

_No problem. _

There was a loud _BOOM _from around thirty feet away and I turned just in time to see an explosion shake the area, lighting up the day with a fiery red and effectively thinning the numbers of people – there were maybe ten now, easily dealt with. I could hear Gazzy's cackles over the din of fighting, and had to stop myself from smiling.

It was almost – _almost – _like things were back to normal. Or at least, as normal as _my _life gets. So it was pretty twisted that my normal was fighting back to back with my flock from people out for our blood. It was what I knew.

Okay, that is really, majorly sad.

I paused for a second as Nudge whirled past me, almost gracefully. She jumped and did a tornado kick into one's head, and, as she landed, used the momentum to spin around and hit the other in the face with her braid. I didn't understand why the man suddenly dropped to the ground, stunned, until I noticed the good sized rock that was attached to the end of it.

Only Nudge would think of that.

I paid for my moment of distraction when one of them broke away and snatched me by the arms, beginning to drag me away. I immediately struggled, attempting to wrench my arms out of his grasp, but only succeeded in nearly wrenching my shoulders from their sockets. Running out of ideas quickly, I lifted one foot off of the ground and tried to kick his legs from under him, but it didn't work either.

"Let _go _of me!" I snarled, injecting as much venom into my voice as I could.

"You killed Marian Janssen, didn't you?" the man demanded, shaking me.

"What are you talking about?" I spat out, hoping my voice wouldn't shake. "I didn't kill anyone-"

"Don't lie, mutant!" he shouted. "I know you did!"

I tried again to get free, and nearly succeeded, but he gripped my arm tighter. "You're not going anywhere," he breathed, the rancid smell of his breath hitting my face.

There was a shot from behind me, and I automatically flinched, trying to make myself smaller. The man's grip suddenly slackened, and he slid off of me with a bewildered look on his face.

I whipped around, fists up, ready to face anyone, only to see Fang calmly reloading a gun. He looked up at me, his face as emotionless as ever.

"You're welcome."

**A/N: This was kind of short, so I'm sorry, but it was a transition chapter, so I hope it served its purpose. **

**The review button is dying! Quick! It can only survive if you all click it!**

**And oh, yeah…. So who are these people? And who are they with? I don't know….**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Do I have an excuse for a lack of updating? Well, actually, I do, several good ones, but none that you really care about. So I just won't say anything. That's better, right? Anyway. **

**I'm so excited! You've no idea how much I've missed writing. It's been KILLING me here. But since I'm sure you guys want to kill me anyway for not updating, I'm just going to stop ranting and let you read the chapter. **

**ENJOY!! --FantasyFan5**

It felt amazing to be back in the sky.

Flying by myself just wasn't the same as soaring through the blue surrounded by the five people that I absolutely couldn't bear to live without. Without them, I wasn't _Max. _I wasn't whole.

The gaping hole in my chest had finally sealed. In its place, though, it'd left a scar. I guessed that _that _wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

Angel and Gazzy were flying not far away from me, chattering away about some new anime that Fang had let them buy - _Naruto, _I thought. I personally had no idea who in the heck Naruto was, but whatever. Nudge was uncharacteristically quiet, staring pensively into the clouds as her wings kept up a steady beat. Iggy and Fang were at the front of the formation, conversing quietly. Every so often, Iggy would turn back and glance at me, mistrust clear even from twenty feet away.

Okay, if he kept that up, he was going to kill my 'back with the flock' buzz, dang it.

From what I'd gathered out of Nudge's hurried explanation - her words had all run together into meaningless babble - we were headed out of the country. Fang had decided he wanted to seek out the Chinese Itex before they could seek out us - if the black clothed men in the clearing weren't their doing anyway. It reminded me of another time where he had wanted to flush out the enemies and had ended in us flying out of the Texas pro football stadium.

_Not _an experience that I wanted to relive.

Anyway, back on topic. I _wanted _to tell Fang's idiotic head that what he was doing had a pretty good chance of getting us killed. I mean, _hello, _we had no way of knowing if they had a trap set up for us, what firepower they had...but on the other hand, he wouldn't tell me the whole plan. He knew something that I didn't. That was going to get really old, really quickly.

"Hey, Max!" Gazzy said suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts. He flew closer to me, tipping one wing to wheel around me constantly as I flew.

I jumped slightly, which _is _possible in the air, thanks. "Yeah, Gasman?"

"Knock, knock."

I grinned widely, my first real smile in way too long. Oh, Gazzy. Still with the dumb knock-knock jokes. "Who's there?" I indulged him.

"Max, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Nudge warned, a smile tugging at her lips. "It's not a very funny punch line."

"Please, Max?" Gazzy asked, and I glanced at him. Dang it, dang it, _dang it! _Why did Nudge have to teach both of my little guys the stupid Bambi eyes?

"Fine, Gazzy, go ahead..." I trailed off. Iggy and Fang were paying attention now. Iggy was smirking. Fang was...well, Fang was Fang. Figure it out.

"The KGB."

I raised one eyebrow. "The KGB who?"

_Whap!_

Gazzy had purposefully clipped me with one wing across the face. "We will ask ze questions!" He barked in a perfect Russian accent.

I spat out feathers from my mouth as the rest of the flock cracked up. Okay, it was kind of funny. _Kind of. _

"Okay, Nudge, you were right," I admitted. "I _didn't _want to do that."

"I shouldn't have told you that," she corrected herself in between bouts of laughter. "The look on your face was _priceless." _She dropped a few feet in the air from laughing so hard, then righted herself, still laughing.

Yeah, ha ha. Let's make fun of Max, because you know, that's _so _much fun.

"Gazzy, do you even know who the KGB were?" Iggy asked.

The smaller blond shrugged. "People."

Iggy shook his head. "Nice, Gazzy, nice." His eyes flickered to me and then away, and for once that day they didn't make me want to flinch. In that moment, though, the trust was gone. I resisted the urge to sigh. Well, it wasn't going to last. I knew that.

"It will eventually," Angel said. It took me awhile to figure out that she was answering to my thoughts, not to anything I'd said out loud. I was going to have to remember to start blocking my thoughts again.

"No, don't do that," Angel pleaded. "I haven't gotten to hear your thoughts in so long. I missed it."

Well, what was I supposed to say to _that? _

Out of habit, I glanced at Fang. Surprisingly, he was watching me, his dark eyes unreadable. I glanced away, slightly embarrassed, but I could feel his gaze on me still. Watching.

It was odd how much I missed him still, even when he wasn't far away from me. It was like he wasn't there. I had no idea how much my leaving must have done. It was like he was only half Fang. Half there. I wanted the Fang back that I could talk to, that didn't hate me with every fiber of his being - and for good reason.

It kind of sucked that I couldn't have everything I wanted, but I guess that's life, huh?

"Max," said a voice to my left. I glanced up with some surprise. Iggy had dropped back next to me. His sightless eyes were staring straight ahead, but he _had _said my name, hadn't he? Was he finally going to break his vow of "Thou Shalt Not Speak To Max"?

"Uh, yeah?" I asked. Wow, Max. Really eloquent.

"Those people...in the clearing." He seemed reluctant to say the words - they were forced out of his mouth like something that tasted bad. "Had you seen them before?"

I blinked. "No. Uh, should I have?"

Iggy shrugged. "Not necessarily. _We _have. But they don't normally come in numbers like that."

I frowned. "But...they were _human. _What the heck are they doing attacking us? What happened to the Animins and Flyboys?"

Iggy looked at me, his expression confused, though it looked like he was trying hard not to let it show. "The Animins disappeared months ago."

I snorted. "Uh, no, they didn't. They've been following me around the place."

It was Iggy's turn to frown. "But why would they-" he cut himself off, apparently deciding not to finish the sentence. "Anyway, those people from today are human. They're not experiments in any way. They're just Itex enthusiasts, some of them. Others are just people who have figured out what all the wars are about and want to be on the winning side."

"And they haven't figured out yet that they _can't win _against the genetically enhanced experiments?" I asked incredulously. "I mean, I thought that we were made to be better than humans, kind of."

Iggy just shrugged, or tried to, anyway. It's a little difficult to do when most of your shoulder muscles are working to keep you from splatting on the ground. "We don't know. We wanted to know if...maybe you knew."

I shook my head. "Sorry."

"Okay." I waited for him to leave, but it looked like he wanted to say more. Sure enough, after a pause, he said, "Look, Max, there's something I have to say."

Instantly, I was on my guard. "What?"

He lowered his voice until I could hardly hear it. "I might be blind, but I'm not stupid. Ever since you've come back, it's like the little kids have healed. It used to always be tense at camp, and now they're talking like nothing ever happened. They might easily forgive, but I don't. And Fang doesn't either. But you already knew that."

"Yeah," I muttered. "I figured that out awhile ago, thanks."

He didn't appreciate the sarcasm.

"My point is," he continued. "If you do anything again to hurt them and mess this up, I'll kill you. Maybe eventually I can forgive you, but not yet. Okay?"

I didn't answer right away. "Iggy, did Fang tell you why I left?"

He shook his head twice, his expression back to being tight and closed off.

"Why not?"

Iggy exhaled sharply, obviously getting impatient. "Because...he said it was your story to tell. But I'm not sure there's much that justifies what you did."

A tiny flicker of anger flared up inside my chest. Okay, I knew I was wrong, but I had a _reason. _And I was sick of listening to them just dish crap out on me.

"If you're trying to make me feel worse," I said acidly, "it's working. I _know _it hurt you guys. You don't think it hurt me, too? You think that I just _wanted _to suddenly take off without warning and fly off into the sunset? It hasn't exactly been a cakewalk this last year for me, either. Just keep that in mind, why don't you." This whole time, I kept my voice pitched so that sounds of our argument wouldn't reach the younger ones. Like Iggy had said, they didn't need any more pain.

Iggy looked slightly taken aback, but not angry, surprisingly. He looked like he'd been expecting that, actually. "Still," he said again, after a pause. "Just remember what I said."

"And _you _remember what _I _said. And remember that I still have the ability to kick your skinny white ass into next week." I was pushing it, I knew. _Way _pushing it. But to my surprise, a ghost of a smile went past Iggy's lips, before it was gone. I knew he'd remembered the day when I'd said those words back on a street corner. Before everythinghad gone wrong.

This was one of those times when I _really _wished for one of those Harry Potter Time Turners.

"Did you know that you might be able to get one of those soon?" Angel said - listening to my thoughts _again. _It was a little annoying, but I guess I couldn't blame her. Patience. I have _lots _of patience.

"What do you mean, I might be able to get one?" I asked.

"Well..." Angel hesitated. This obviously wasn't something she was supposed to know, or probably tell me.

"Awhile ago, I heard one of the whitecoats thinking about time. And I was really curious, so I listened. And he was thinking about how time is like a wheel, and some other stuff that I didn't really get. But then he was thinking about how Itex might be able to _control _time later, and go back to fix all of their mistakes. You know, perfect their plan?"

Silence. The rest of the flock had stopped and were staring at Angel with open mouths.

"Are you saying," said Nudge finally, "that Itex might be able to _control time?" _

Angel nodded. "They can't yet. They're working on it."

I noticed Iggy and Fang exchange glances. Itex _controlling time. _

Now _that _was freaky.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Oh my gosh guys! I'm back!!!!!! And I'm so excited because GUESS WHAT?? I FINISHED MY NOVEL!! I actually finished something original that can be published!!**

**So, now that my novel is in the editing stage rather than being furiously worked on day and night (no kidding) - I can write this fan fiction! -**_**fireworks boom in the sky and a parade marches through the streets- **_

**So, there may be a recap needed because of my prolonged absence. *guilty look* Max is back with the Flock, but only Gazzy and Angel trust her completely. Nudge is torn between being one of the older kids and staying suspicious, or running back to Max. Iggy and Fang, on the other hand, are angry that she left and not so sure that they want to let her back in so easily. And Angel, being the lovely little girl that she is, just dropped the bomb that Itex might find a way to control time. Creepy, huh? Psycho child. (I didn't say that!) **

**So ANYWAY, enjoy the chapter!! (Which is finally up!) **

* * *

_**Tell the flock hello for me. **_

I nearly fell out of the air, I was so surprised. This didn't go unnoticed by Gazzy, who was flying next to me. "You okay, Max?" He asked me.

"Yeah, Gasman, I'm fine," I reassured him, smiling. He grinned back at me and instead focused on speeding up to catch up with Iggy.

I used his absence to talk to Jeb. _Don't do that to me! _I exclaimed. _I almost fell right there, and you would have been _so _sorry. _

_**You sound better, **_Jeb remarked. _**Happier. **_

I blinked in surprise. Really? Huh. Guess I was...for obvious reasons, of course. _Well...you should understand how tight we are, _I told him. Or were, I thought to myself, glancing at the dark shape above me that was Fang with a twinge of regret.

_**I do, **_Jeb said. _**That's why it's important that you stand behind them, no matter what. **_

I should have known that he never just wanted to chat. I frowned. _I already do. I trust them with my life - every one of them. _

_**Everything, Max. **_And then he was gone.

I shook my head rapidly, trying to come back to the real world. Nudge was staring at me. "Is that voice that you had still there?" she asked curiously.

I nodded. "Yeah, Jeb doesn't like to shut up."

A smile flitted across her face. "Yeah, I remember," she said, and for a moment she looked like the girl that I had practically raised, the talkative kid that was my little sister, no matter what blood said.

I hesitated, unsure if what I was about to say was a good idea, and then blurted out, "He says hi."

Nudge looked surprised, and I could see the conflict of emotions chase each other across her face. She seemed to struggle with herself for a moment, and then, finally, she replied, "I say hi, too." I grinned at her, and slowly, she grinned back.

"Nudge!" Iggy shouted from up ahead. "Come here real quick, we need to talk to you!" Nudge jumped, shot me a furtive, guilty look, and then sped up next to he and Gazzy, who dropped back slightly at a look from Iggy.

Leaving me relatively alone.

I sighed and resisted the urge to wrap my arms around my chest, feeling unnecessarily empty. My thoughts began to wander. If Itex was able to control time, what would that mean for us? Would they go back and make sure that we couldn't escape? Make sure that the Flock never met? Ensure that we weren't even _born? _

I shuddered. No. Time in the hands of Itex was just like signing a contract of the world over to them. AKA, extremely not good. I wondered if that was what Iggy, Fang, and Nudge were talking about right now. If I was still the leader, I knew that was what I would be doing - figuring out how it could change our plans, what we could do to try and stop it.

I bit my lip. To listen in or not to listen in? To listen in or - oh, screw it, I was curious.

I rose a few feet higher up in the air almost imperceptibly and listened hard, hoping against hope that Iggy and Fang would think that I wasn't paying attention to their conversation - or just wouldn't care. Strains of their voices reached me over the whistle of the wind.

"-bet the Chinese have something to do with it," Iggy was saying.

I glanced upward as much as I could to see Fang shaking his head. "No, they covered the environment issues," he disagreed. "Probably Germany."

"Where we just left," Nudge sighed.

"Well, if it is Germany," Iggy said, "since their Director is dead, wouldn't that throw them off? And basically, they're all just branches of the same organization. And that Marian Janssen was at the head of everything. That's bound to slow them down for at least a little while."

"Yeah," Fang agreed. "I don't like this. They'll mess with us somehow."

I nodded to myself, concentrating hard. I wouldn't realize until later that - once again - Fang and I were on the same wavelength.

I could hear the frown in Iggy's voice. "What do you mean?"

"Wait," Fang cautioned, his voice dropping lower so that I had to try extremely hard to hear what he was saying. "We'll talk later." Crap. I bet he figured out that I wanted to know what was going on. Why must he know me so well? Why? Just when I thought I was finally going to hear why the heck Fang wanted to go to China, he goes and cuts himself off.

God, that stupid bird boy was frustrating.

We flew for about five more hours before some of us started getting shaky from lack of food and energy, but it seemed like my little guys were holding up better than they had been able to before. We had flown out of Germany, that was for sure, but I wasn't sure exactly where we were - my geography was a little sketchy. I thought that we were probably somewhere in Europe still - I highly doubted that we had gotten into Asia yet. I winced inwardly thinking of the long miles to come. Ugh. My wings were going to be so sore.

I watched as Fang's dark eyes swept across the area we'd landed in. I mimicked his actions. We'd landed on the outskirts of a small town, and there were what looked like a few restaurants around. At the same time, our eyes landed on something magical - two tall, golden arches.

"McDonald's," we said at the same time. Fang said it as a question, turning to the rest of the flock. I, on the other hand, said the name like it was something reverent. Hot, greasy food - and lots of it. Oh, my gosh, heaven.

"Hey, look," Gazzy said, grinning, looking between me and Fang. "They're talking at the same time again." Awkward silence. Everyone in the flock was either looking at me or Fang. I shook my head warningly at Gazzy, mouthing _no, _and Fang glared at him. "Heh heh...well, anyway...race you!" Gazzy cried, dashing away from us and into town.

"I think I'm going to go to," Nudge said not two seconds later, and was followed closely by Angel.

Iggy sensed how tense we both were, hesitated for a full second, and then said, "Bye, Fang, I'm hungry. Nudge, wait up!" He followed the sound of her and Angel's conversation and left the two of us alone. I felt like running after them and yelling, 'DON'T LEAVE ME WITH HIM!'

"Um..." I began awkwardly. "Well, I'm going with them. Yeah, see ya!" I didn't go two steps before Fang caught my wrist. I made a face he couldn't see. Please not now. My stomach felt like it was trying to eat itself.

"Stop making that face," Fang said in a bored tone. "I know you are. I need to talk to you." I sighed and turned to face him. I had to blink in surprise. He was closer than I had expected. I took a slight step back and pulled my arm back. He let go of my wrist without a fight.

"Out with it," he told me. "How much did you hear?"

I put on my best innocent face. "How much did I hear? Of what? We've just been flying all day, there's been nothing to hear."

He rolled his eyes. "Max."

"Fang."

"Are you sure you don't know what I'm talking about?"

"Yep," I told him, wiping the emotions off of my face. Let's see how _he _liked it. "I'm completely in the dark here."

He stared at me for another second, and then shrugged one shoulder. "Whatever. Let's go." He started off towards the flock without waiting for an answer. I looked up at the sky and breathed a silent sigh of relief. Thank God. He actually bought it.

By the time that we reached the McDonald's, the rest of the flock was standing there practically salivating over the menu. "Did you know," Nudge said randomly, "that they paint the insides of fast food places bright colors to make you feel rushed so that you leave faster?"

I blinked. "No way! Really?"

Nudge nodded, but then looked away as if she was sorry she had said something to me in the first place. I watched her for another moment, thinking. It was going to take awhile for her to want to let me back in, too, I bet.

Fang nudged Angel forward. "Go ahead. Order."

I'll let you guess how long it took for them to make our order. Let's just say that when tiny little Angel ordered her food, the cashier's eyes looked like they were about to fall out of her face. I was surprised that they actually didn't when Iggy "I have a black hole for a stomach" stepped up to place his order.

When we got our food, for awhile the only sounds that could be heard were the noises of disgusting slurping as we sucked down caffeine and chomping as we wolfed down handfuls of fries. I didn't worry about what others must have thought. Who the hell cared, we were never going to see them again anyway.

"You guys want to chill?" Fang asked after everyone had finished demolishing their food. I knew that he meant for the rest of the evening and not just sit here. Everyone nodded, a little slower from the amount of food in their stomachs. I, on the other hand was restless. I wanted to get back in the skies, to feel like I was _doing _something. I guess that was where Fang and I differed.

We headed back out of town to the clearing where we had landed and set our stuff down. I still wasn't allowed to help with anything - I swear to God Fang was doing this just to freaking spite me - so I was left to pace around the campsite while Iggy kept busy getting a fire ready and the other three went off together for firewood. Fang sat by himself apparently staring off into space, his gaze troubled but focused. I knew he was thinking about something, but I didn't know exactly _what. _

"So," he said after a pause. "Itex controlling time?"

It was so much like old times, so much like I had never left, that I jumped at it immediately. I stopped pacing and turned to face him. "Yeah, weird, huh? I don't like it at all."

He shook his head. "Me either."

I frowned, thinking. "Who's working on it, though? It can't be the U.S., they're too busy with that war going on." Fang nodded, letting me continue. "And if it's Germany...well, like Iggy said, with their Director-" I cut myself off. Damn it. I looked at Fang through narrowed eyes, seeing the mocking smile in his stare that he wouldn't let reach his lips. "You did that on purpose."

A corner of his mouth twitched. "So you _were _listening. I knew it; you couldn't leave something alone if you tried."

I crossed my arms. "That's not true. I could." Fang just looked at me. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, so that's never happened before. So what? There's a first time for everything."

Fang snorted. "I'm finding the others," he told Iggy, and disappeared off into the woods to my left.

I sat on the ground. "I hate this," I muttered to myself. "I can't do freaking anything."

"Well, you should congratulate yourself," Iggy told me, not looking up from where he was putting rocks in a circle where the fire would be. He pulled his lighter out of his pocket and began tossing it, somehow catching it every time.

I gave him a sarcastic look. "For what? I haven't done anything, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Well," Iggy said, tossing and catching the lighter again with ease, "that's the closest that Fang's come to joking around since you left."

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**A/N: Ta da! Please review - I've missed you guys SO much and really want to hear what you think. -puppy dog eyes-**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: FINALLY MADE IT THROUGH FINALS!! And Christmas - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (late, but that's okay! This chapter has been half done since like, December 30...anyway...)**

**Here you go!**

I just stared at Iggy for a moment, unable to think of a reply. "I mean, I know that he was never the world's most smiley guy," he continued, oblivious to my speechlessness, "but after you left, he was even more emo kid. Which sucked, might I add." He suddenly seemed to remember something. "Don't tell him I said that. He'll kick my ass."

I said nothing. Iggy turned his face towards mine, and I saw that he still hadn't let his guard down. He still didn't trust me, despite the half joke about Fang. I rolled my eyes in exasperation, to cover up the hurt. "Okay, Iggy," I said. "You're getting on my nerves. Did I leave? Yes. Was it for a good reason? Also yes. I left because Itex was trying to make me kill Fang, and that would have killed all of us. So shut up dropping hints about how I'm a terrible person, alright? It's old." I got up and stalked away to the other edge of the campsite, not waiting for his reply. Iggy could just...could just...he could go jump off a cliff, wings tucked _in, _if he was going to make another smart comment about how I left. I was sick of it, I tell you.

"I guess that changes things," I heard Iggy mutter.

"Gee, you think?" I shot back at him, wishing for the thousandth time that he could see my raised eyebrows and annoyed expression. I stopped, blew out a breath. "I thought you guys would have known me better. Granted, I was kind of counting on you not coming after me, but really? You really believed that I would just up and leave?"

"No," Iggy muttered again. "It took us awhile, okay? But then you didn't come back. So we had to believe it."

Okay, good point. I didn't answer, preferring to fume in silence. I could sense Iggy wanted to say something, but he stayed silent as well.

The flock came back to see Iggy and I on opposite ends of the campsite, stubbornly saying nothing. Stupid bird kid. I even told him why I left, and he didn't even have the decency to say, 'Oh, sorry, Max, guess we shouldn't be _ignoring you right now_.' Of course not. Couldn't he see that I did that for the best?

Apparently not.

The flock glanced warily between Iggy and I, and the awkwardness grew as no one said a word. "So..." said Nudge to fill the empty silence. "We got the firewood."

Nice, Nudge. Nice.

"Yeah, I - see that," I said haltingly. What was I supposed to do, jump up and down and applaud?

"Hey, Ig, come help me set up this fire," Fang said, diffusing the tension a little bit better. Iggy got up and followed the sound of Fang's voice, and I could feel the air lighten as the flock busied themselves and found something to focus on. I let out a long, slow breath, trying and failing to ease some of the stress in my muscles. No good. I was too wound up.

Eager for something to do - _anything -_ I came up behind Fang. "Here, I'll do it," I offered.

Fang looked at me for a second that lasted an eternity. I resisted the urge to tell him I wasn't going to light him on fire...even though at that moment, I was sorely tempted. "Okay, here," he said, dumping some of the firewood in my arms.

Success!

...You know your life is sad when you're rejoicing over building a fire.

Iggy and I set up the fire in silence while the younger kids chattered around us. Occasionally, we glared at one another. Or rather, Iggy glared at a point on my face. He's good, really good, but he's not infallible. "I have food," Fang stated out of the blue, emptying out his backpack.

"Yes!" Iggy cried, momentarily forgetting his irritation with me. "What did you get? I'm starving, Fang, let's go." I slipped away under the cover of their conversation, darting away to a spot just on the outskirts of the Flock. I sat on patch of grassless ground by myself and watched them as they chattered away happily. I could feel a smile growing on my face. I didn't think that it would matter if we had weeks together or even years, I still wouldn't be able to get over the fact that I was _here, _with my family, and for the moment, nothing was wrong.

Nudge broke away from the Gasman and Angel and plopped down next to me, much to my surprise. She braced herself on her hands and blew out a breath. "Why are you sitting by yourself?" she asked me, her brown eyes meeting mine curiously. I hid my surprise that she wanted to talk, not wanting to wreck the moment.

Then again, it was Nudge. Maybe everyone else had started ignoring her and she just wanted to talk.

I shrugged, deciding to just go with it. "I don't know. I just felt like it, I guess." It was probably from the fact that I had spent most of the last year alone that even around the people I trusted most - shoot, trusted _at all _- I still felt like I was slightly out of place, the odd one out.

It dawned on me that I should try and make the best of this situation - Nudge was _talking _to me, of her own volition, and it didn't seem like she hated me - but I was never one for emotions, and I let the silence stretch until it widened the gap between us.

"Max, what did you do while you were gone?" Nudge finally asked bluntly. So that was why she wanted to talk.

She had been trying to fill the silence as well, I knew, but I still tensed immediately as memories came rushing back. It had been the wrong thing to say, and Nudge realized it. "Max - sorry - I didn't mean to, you don't have to answer-" The entire flock was looking at us now, waiting for me to say something. I wanted to crawl into a hole and freaking _die._ Why? Why was it that I always got attention that I didn't want?

I opened my mouth to thank her, to say that I wouldn't answer, until I caught a glance of Fang shaking his head in a way that clearly said, _figures. _My eyes narrowed and I could feel my lips hardening into a thin line.

"No, Nudge, actually, it's fine," I said in a sickly sweet voice, resisting the urge to glare at Fang. I could see the flock stare at me warily. They knew that voice meant that I was _pissed _at someone. At the same time, though, I saw how curious they were. They wanted to know. I shifted uncomfortably under their gazes, disliking all of the attention.

"Well," I began hesitantly, ignoring Fang's gaze burning holes in the side of my head, "Itex certainly hadn't forgotten about me. They kept sending Animins after me about every other day." I paused, but no one seemed like they wanted to interrupt. I continued reluctantly. "It wasn't that bad, I guess, no worse than when...anyway... I mean, the Animins were strong, but I could take them - until they sent enough to actually capture me."

Angel gasped, seeing the rest of the story in my head. I glanced at her. Her blue eyes were wide and questioning. I nodded at her, confirming what she already knew.

"What? What?" Gazzy asked.

I chewed on my lip, unsure of how to broach this topic. Iggy and Fang could take it, and probably Nudge now that I thought about it.

_I'm the youngest, Max, and I already know, _I heard Angel say in my mind. _Just say it. _

Finally, I blurted it out. "They wanted to take my soul."

Silence.

More silence.

The flock's eyes were literally bugging out of their heads, staring at me like I was Jeb doing a fan dance or something. I glanced from one shocked face to the other. "I still have it though, FYI," I said dryly. "So, uh, you can stop staring at me like I'm dead."

Nudge blinked a few times and then seemed to remember herself. "But...but how did you get away?"

_Shocked faces bright lights scalpel School fear run _

My eyes shut of their own volition for a split second. "I'd rather not talk about it just this second." Or any second. Or ever. Maybe I could get away with not explaining anything ever, that would be nice.

The flock seemed to understand, still looking at me with those worried expressions on their faces. I was already regretting opening my big mouth. Geez, Max. Way to repair your relationship with the Flock. Now they're going to treat you like you're about to fall apart. Lovely, just lovely.

I leaned backward and propped myself up with my hands. "Are you guys going to keep getting camp ready or are you going to keep staring at me?"

They seemed to remember themselves and busied themselves, all of them avoiding my eyes. Fang looked at me for a second longer, holding my gaze. It looked like he wanted to say something to me, or ask something, but the next second he had turned away to arrange the firewood for Iggy to light.

I stared at the ground, fighting away memories of the School, and wished the topic of my absence had never been brought up.

**FANG POV**

Night had fallen, and as usual he and Iggy were the only ones left awake. The three youngest had all dropped off to sleep one by one, huddled together in a group. Max was slightly farther away, frowning even in sleep, never completely relaxed. He watched her for awhile, feeling like a creeper. It wasn't his fault. He'd missed her, no matter how much he refused to admit it - even to himself. And apparently, there was something that they needed to talk about.

Fang sighed. Iggy heard his sigh and turned his face towards him. "What's up?" he whispered.

"Nothing," Fang replied automatically. "Just thinking. You know."

Iggy was silent. Fang used that to change the subject. "So what was up with you and Max earlier?" he asked, knowing that Iggy would know what he was talking about.

"Oh, that," Iggy said, sounding suddenly irritated. "I told her about how you were all emo kid for the past year and she blew up at me and said that she left for a good reason and that I shouldn't be jumping down her throat. And then she told me why she left. I was just thinking, 'do you expect me to just throw myself at your feet and forgive you?' No. Not likely, Max, sorry." He paused. "I feel bad for her. But I'm still ticked." Fang knew how he felt.

"Was that why she was having all those weird mood swings?" Iggy whispered. "I mean, I assume she told you."

"She did," Fang confirmed. "And yeah, it was. Because of that second voice." The second voice. He didn't know how he felt about that. Indifferent. Of course Itex had wanted him dead. They were sending people out to kill them every week. But to have Max do it was just heartless.

The two boys lapsed back into silence, and Fang was about to go to sleep and let Iggy finish out his watch when the pyro spoke. "When are you going to tell her?"

Fang knew immediately what he was talking about, and he wasn't sure that it was something he especially wanted to discuss. "I don't know," he replied shortly.

"You're going to have to say something eventually," Iggy reminded him. Fang resisted the urge to walk over there and deck him. What did he think he was, stupid? He knew what he was doing. He had a plan.

So that last part was a lie. Other than getting to China, the branch of Itex behind global warming, he had no plan.

"Drop it, Ig," Fang said, a spark of irritation beginning to creep into his tone. "I'm not saying anything."

"Okay," Iggy said skeptically.

"Night," Fang said shortly. After a short silence, Iggy held out his fist. Fang stacked his on top, and they both tapped the sides.

Fang didn't get much sleep that night.

**Hey guys! Please review...I didn't get many the last chapter and I'm worried that people just gave up on the story. Maybe I'm just paranoid.**

**I'm writing it for you...and if you don't review, how do I know what you think? I'd like to keep writing this story, but I lose motivation if I have no people telling me they want me to continue (haha, that's so bad...)**

**So, if you haven't given up on it and me, please click the green button!**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: YES!! TWELVE DAYS BETWEEN UPDATES!! Okay, sadly, that has got to be like, a record for me or something....wait, no, my record is five. but it's not on this story so it doesn't count. I would just like to point out that the upload feature on here currently isn't working - but I had a brain wave and am just replacing the chapter 8 document with this one and uploading. Bwa ha ha. I beat the system. **

**Speaking of updating, I am going to try and get on a weekly schedule. I want to try and start updating every Friday or Saturday. I NEED YOUR HELP WITH THIS! Harass me, send me angry PMs, make sure I'm making progress, FORCE ME to write. I am trying to reform my procrastinating ways. **

**Anyways...last chapter recap: The Flock is on their way to China still (Fang wants to check it out), Iggy and Max had a little fight over her leaving, Nudge asked Max why she left and opened up a _huge _well of memories that Max doesn't want to relive, and Fang has a secret that we don't know about. Dun dun dun.**

**Here is chapter 9! **

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It took us a few days, but we had finally, _finally _made it to Fang's destination - China. If you don't remember from about a year ago when we figured all of this out, China is the Itex behind global warming. Remember, we went on those websites, found all that information...yeah, anyway. If you don't remember, go read, I wrote it down. So Fang's brilliant plan was to go to China. At least, that was all that he'd told me. So we had achieved his goal.

That just better not be his entire plan, or I will _kill _him.

The little guys' eyes were huge as we walked through Beijing. Even I, the perpetual killjoy, was impressed. It would have been better if I could actually read the signs, but hey, I'd take what I could get. And I wasn't about to learn Chinese.

Anyway.

The only things that really marred the cool part about being in a new country were the telltale signs that World War III was currently going on - and that's no exaggeration. People seemed even more stressed and tired as they made their way through the streets. The general attitude was...grey, at best, and war propaganda was everywhere. How do I know this, you ask, if I can't read Mandarin? There were pictures of grim soldiers grasping guns accompanying the ads. It was dead depressing. Was it really like this almost _all _around the world? Had Itex taken things that far?

I realized that I didn't really, _truly _want to know the answer to that question.

Where was this Chinese Itex, anyway? Kept in the dark as I was, I didn't know anything about what we were doing, and it was slowly driving me out of my mind. I didn't know how much more of this that I could take. A flash of memory came back to me - Chinese scientists with clipboards, pricing Angel, Nudge and I so that we could be weapons for them. I sent a silent prayer up to the current ruling deity that they wouldn't remember us. Yeah, like that's going to happen.

With a sudden desire to know something - _anything - _I changed my pace to match Nudge's. Maybe I could weasel something out of her. "Hey, Nudge," I whispered, hoping the noise of the city would cover our conversation from Fang and Iggy. Unlikely, but it was worth a shot. "Do we know where this Itex is?"

She glanced at me, opened her mouth, but then suddenly her expression shut down. Damn. Back to square one with Nudge, then. "I...I can't tell you," she said evasively, and turned away. I knew it was no use wheedling information out of her. Next victim, then. I needed to _know. _Was this childish, in a way? Yes. Did I care? Psh. Of course not!

I dropped back a couple steps to walk beside Angel. _Hey, babe, _I thought. _Any idea where the Itex is? _

There was a pause, and I was afraid that she hadn't heard me, but then I heard her say, _Not far. In the city, somewhere. I think Fang wants to stake it out. _

I stopped myself from nodding and giving away the fact that we were having a silent conversation that Fang would most definitely get mad at us at. _Thanks, _I sent back, feeling only slightly guilty about conning a seven year old into giving me information. It's not like she's not an abnormal seven year old girl, right? Right.

"Yo," Fang said from up ahead, making me jump. Had he figured me out already? But he was only drawing the flock's attention. He jerked his chin forward at a sign slightly to the right of us. I didn't see anything abnormal about it at first - it was just another unintelligible sign - and I was about to tell Fang that, when I noticed something else. In the top left hand corner, something was clearly visible -the Itex logo. As I looked around, I could see that it was everywhere - on new car license plates, on building signs, on billboards, _everything. _

Whoa.

"Not making much of an effort to stay undercover, are they?" Iggy said, once Fang had described what we were gaping at. _Major understatement, _I thought.

"Well, there's no need, is there?" I spoke up, making everyone turn to look at me. "They were out in the open before, remember, we used to have things made by them. Like Angel's diapers. And I mean, they've already started this war. They're pretty sure that everything is going to go according to plan. So why stay hidden?"

Iggy raised one eyebrow, but Fang considered me for a moment and said, "Good point." I had to stop my jaw from dropping. Personal victory - Fang has complimented me. Progress?

But in the next second, he crushed that by turning from me to Iggy and discussing something quietly so the rest of us couldn't hear. The hopeful part of me slunk away with its tail between its legs.

Fang and Iggy pulled us away from the hustle and bustle of the street and into a side alley that was relatively deserted. Fang looked at Iggy and nodded, giving him permission to start talking. "Okay," Iggy began. "We're not far from the Itex headquarters. We're planning on staking it out-" _Told you so, _said Angel in my head, and I had to keep from snickering - "and we're going to have to split up, do it in two hour shifts so it doesn't look too suspicious."

Me? I was immediately opposed to this whole notion of 'splitting up'. I automatically opened my mouth to object, but then I remembered that my word didn't count and I shut up, mentally muttering to myself about how stupid splitting the flock up was. Didn't the idiots _realize _that while one or two of us is watching the Itex, they could be waiting for a chance to get _us? _

My self control is going to be _perfect _by the time this is over.

"So," Iggy decided. "We're splitting up into pairs. Nudge and Gazzy, Fang and Angel, and...me and Max." I didn't miss his reluctance in that last statement and raised my eyes defiantly to meet his, daring him to complain about staking out Itex with me as a partner, but it seemed like he was determined not to meet my gaze.

"Clear?" asked Fang, taking over. "Max and Iggy, you're first. We'll wait." He shot Iggy a meaningful glance, which I took to mean that they had a predetermined spot where we would meet up after our shift was over. I felt a wave of jealousy overtake me before I could press it down again. This wasn't getting any easier.

Fang and the three youngest went down the alleyway, away from the street, and Iggy turned to me, resignation in his face. I had a feeling that it would be an awkward two hours, especially since our recent fight over why I'd left. "Itex is three more blocks down," he told me.

"Okay," I answered. He stood there awkwardly for a moment. I was about to tell him to get going when I realized that this city was entirely new for him, and he was waiting for me, the one with sight, to take the lead. And he was probably doing some major pride swallowing as well. Quickly, to cover up my mistake, I led the way back out of the alleyway and turned back onto the street. I heard Iggy behind me, keeping a close ear on my footsteps to make sure he was following me and not someone else.

Despite being miffed at him, I kept close.

Iggy had been right - the Itex was only three blocks away. It was easily spotted; I don't know how I hadn't seen it before. It was a good five or so stories taller than the buildings around it, rising black and sleek above Beijing. The Itex logo was visible smack in the center of the building. I did a quick preliminary scan. "It looks like there's only one door," I mused out loud to Iggy. "Oh, yeah, we're in front of the Itex now."

"Gee, thanks for the update," Iggy said sarcastically. "And really? Are you sure that's right?"

I rolled my eyes, glad for once that he couldn't see it. "I'm positive, Iggy. I'm one of the most paranoid people on the planet, do you really think that I would miss a possible way for someone to attack us?" I took his silence to mean I had a point.

"That makes our job easier," he said, dropping his voice.

"Mmhmm..." I said absently. "Come on. We need a place to sit." I could feel him seething at having to listen to me, but the sad truth was, he had no choice. I led him by the elbow - I was still kind of ticked, too - to a bench slightly to the right of the Itex building.

Iggy began speaking as soon as he sat down; I guess to make sure I knew he still knew more than I did. "You're going to watch and see if anyone we recognize comes out of that building. Also, take note of any escape routes, possible weak spots, and possible sniper spots." 

_Duh. _What did he think I was, stupid?

"I'm going to listen and see if I can pick up anything useful," he said, but I could hear the doubt in his voice. Good as our hearing was, it would be beyond difficult to try hearing snatches of conversation from across the street.

"Kay," I agreed, and we lapsed into silence, neither of us willing to breach the distance between us. I ignored him and stayed alert, making a mental note of every person that walked in or out of the building and committing it to memory, just in case. When there was a break in the stream of people, I checked over the building. Fifty windows on the side facing the street. Possible hiding spots for good snipers on the roof, though it would be difficult to try anything in this crowded city. Again, no doors except for the main one. Not a problem for kids with wings.

Even with all of my discipline, with my super sensitive senses, with my paranoia, after half an hour of this I was dead bored. Iggy and I were still sitting in our uncomfortable silence, and I couldn't start a conversation in case he was listening to something important. I resisted the urge to sigh. I could make it through this. I would.

Another hour crawled by. In an attempt to kick myself out of boredom, I had started paying even more attention than before, which only resulted in my nerves being on hyper alert, which resulted in me being twitchy. I just couldn't catch a break, could I?

The door opened, and I immediately focused on the people that were leaving. First, a man walked out, with a sanguine face and slightly doughy frame, followed by a taller woman with brown hair. I focused on their faces and immediately gasped. Either Fang had a psychic vision to come here or this was pure coincidence.

"What?" Iggy asked immediately, focusing on me. "What is it?"

"We are most definitely in the right place," I breathed. "You'll never believe who's here."

The two people were none other than Anne and the Head Hunter.

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**A/N: Ta da! I'm so proud of myself, I finally sat down and wrote the outline that I had in my head. So now it is (basically) set in stone, and we see some plot development. Beast. **

**Oh, right, about the Itex being out in the open thing - if you go back and look in the 2nd book when the flock first discovers Itex, Max mentions that she remembers seeing the Itex logo 'everywhere' - so they're a well known company in JP's world. People just don't know the evil, mad scientist side of them. **

**You know I ask only one thing of you - REVIEW!**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: This would have been up earlier today - much earlier - but nooo, we just had to go scrimmage freshmen in select volleyball today. Whatever. BUT - I met my standards for updating! I've decided the update day for this story will be Fridays. I'll update on a Saturday if and only if something happens to stop a Friday update. Which will hopefully be rare to never. I think Saturday is going to be my day to update 10 Secrets of the MR Characters, as well....hmm...**

**Last chapter: The flock have arrived in China, and they kept watch on the Itex - only to see Anne and the Head Hunter come out of the building! *gasps* **

**Enjoy!**

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"Holy shit," Iggy breathed, and I had to suppress the reprimand to tell him to watch his language. The same words were going through my head as well. "Are they headed this way?" he asked me sharply, trying to get a sense of the situation.

"No," I reassured him. "They don't see us, and besides, they're on the other side of a really busy street. They're walking towards downtown...it looks like they're arguing..." I stopped narrating and watched them carefully, holding my breath in a automatic instinct to stay hidden. It was needless at the moment, but that survival instinct had gotten me out of many, many tight pinches.

"How much time is left on our stake out?" Iggy whispered to me as few people dressed in business clothes marched past us.

I checked the watch that was on my left wrist. "About fifteen minutes. Let's skip out and tell Fang what we saw." I realized too late that I had given an order, was making decisions like the leader that I used to be. I cringed inwardly, waiting for Iggy to get pissed off again. Luckily, it didn't seem to bother him - maybe he hadn't picked up on it, or else was so used to me telling him what to do that it didn't register in his mind as odd.

"Okay," Iggy agreed, standing up and popping his back. "I'll tell him, though."

Ah. _There _was the Iggy that was more recent.

We picked our way through the many people on the street until we'd reached where Fang and Iggy had apparently arranged to meet. I had to admit, it wasn't a bad spot - it was right smack in the middle of one of the busiest parts of the city, and it was so loud that the risk of being overheard to any great length was virtually zero. It was a sort of modern courtyard or something - a place where people could walk around, but it looked like it was really just an area between a ton of shopping centers. Fang, Nudge, the Gasman and Angel, on further inspection, were milling about casually through the crowd, seemingly wandering with no purpose. I noticed, however, that they always kept in sight of one another, watching out of the corner of their eyes. Nudge spotted us first, and as she moved toward us, the other three followed as if planned - which, I reminded myself, it probably was.

She glanced at me and addressed Iggy. "What's wrong?" she asked, her brow furrowing in confusion. "You guys are back early; your watch doesn't end for about five more minutes." Fang was watching us, waiting for an answer but letting Nudge do the talking.

"You'll never believe who we saw," Iggy started. _We? _I thought venomously, resisting the urge to elbow Iggy's side. _I'm behaving, I'm behaving, I'm behaving..._

"Who?" Gazzy asked immediately, his blue eyes wide. He was hanging on to Iggy's every word. I could see that some things never changed.

"Anne - and the Head Hunter - _together," _replied Iggy dramatically. I stopped myself from rolling my eyes and glanced at Fang. He was resolutely not meeting my gaze. I tried to pretend that it didn't hurt.

"They're _here?" _Nudge exclaimed, though amazingly she kept her voice low. Even Fang raised an eyebrow, intrigued. And no, I was not watching Fang specifically to see his reaction. I just happened to catch that.

"Yeah," I affirmed, simultaneously cutting across Iggy and taking my mind off of Fang. A smug feeling rose in me at the affronted look on Iggy's face, and I had to keep from smirking. "They were leaving the Itex together. It looked like they were arguing about something, though...I guess they're not the best of pals."

"I wonder what about," the Gasman thought out loud. His eyes flicked from Fang to me, as if unsure who to ask what to do. I was reminded with a jolt of the first time I'd had to leave my flock, though at least then I had had Nudge and Angel. Still. Not a happy thought.

Fang made the decision for him. "Okay, Nudge and Gazzy will go next," he spoke up. "If Anne and the Hunter are here, we're in the right place. They're too far to follow now, just keep a sharp eye out. Remember - be subtle." Well, that kind of went without saying. But Nudge and Gazzy just nodded, and without further ado, Nudge set off weaving through the people, Gazzy right behind her. I watched them go until the crowd swallowed them up.

Now what?

I was about to ask Fang this, but I stopped myself. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of having to answer poor, ignorant little Max's question. I would pass, thanks. Almost at the exact same time that I had made that decision, Fang caught Iggy's eye, nodded, and they both set off back into the crowd.

Well, gee, thanks for telling me what the _f _you're doing.

Angel, thank the Lord, came to my rescue."Just act casual," she told me in an undertone. "They don't want to call a whole ton of attention to ourselves."

I nodded. "Thanks, babe." She flashed me a brilliant smile and went in the opposite direction of Fang and Iggy. I strolled through the people in the crowd, making sure that I kept an eye on Fang, Iggy and Angel at all times. It was both for my paranoia and because - well, I hated to admit it, but Fang was chock full of good ideas lately, and this whole acting casual thing was one of them.

I sighed inwardly. Now that was a sticky subject - _Fang_. I had been avoiding thinking about him at all when I could help it. Iggy's anger I could deal with - it hurt me badly, of course, but it was nothing compared to what I guessed Fang felt but refused to say. Iggy had been like my brother, a member of my family. But Fang, on the other hand...

I'll just be blunt about it. Fang is literally my other half. More than likely we were made that way on purpose, but either way, that's the way that it is. He's always been the one that I trust the most, the one that I go to first for everything, the one who understands what I'm thinking with just one glance. That's probably why it hurt more than it did with the rest of my flock when he refused to forgive me.

I had been purposefully avoiding thinking about this for the entire duration of my return to the flock, but I found it hard _not _to think about it now that I had gotten started. I knew Fang. He wasn't speaking to me because he was beyond angry. Iggy was more vocal about it, but Fang preferred to keep it all stored up inside until he exploded. He had gotten better at hiding his emotions - most of the time, he never slipped - but I could still read him. I chanced a glance over at him as I walked, hoping that he didn't choose that moment to watch me as well. The skin around his mouth was tight, and the thumb of his right hand was picking at the knuckle of his index finger - a nervous habit that he had never been able to suppress for some reason. Fang was thinking, I could tell, and whatever it was seemed to be making him angry.

Fang looked up then and caught me watching him. Covering my embarrassment at being caught, I gave him the smallest of nods and returned to 'casually' pacing through the crowd. I could feel his eyes stay on me, though, and I thought that I had figured out what he had been thinking about.

I closed my eyes for the briefest instant. I _hated _this. I would never say it out loud - I had a reputation to uphold - but I really, really missed Fang. I didn't want to be the first to break this stand offish silence between us, though. If he wanted to talk, I was right here.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts while we waited that I hardly noticed when Nudge and Gazzy returned, and only saw them when I noticed Iggy begin moving with a purpose. "Anything?" Fang asked as soon as he reached them.

Nudge shook her head, smoothing back wisps of her hair that were too short to fit into her braid. I still wanted to know how she had managed to tame that hair. "Nothing important. We didn't see anyone new. But," she corrected herself, "the Head Hunter came back. Alone this time, though." I raised an eyebrow, intrigued. Had Anne just had something else to do, somewhere else to be? Or had the Head Hunter ditched her? Personally, I hated both of them, so I really didn't care, but all the same. I wanted to know.

Fang checked his watch and then the sky. The sun was beginning to go down, and I automatically glanced at Angel, who had been walking in circles for four hours. It wasn't much strain on her - I mean, the girl can fly for miles without stopping -

"Oh, wait!" Nudge said, remembering something. "I do know something."

Fang focused on her. "What?" The rest of us leaned slightly towards Nudge, wanting to know what she was going to say.

"Well..." she suddenly looked sheepish. "I wanted to find out more about what was going on, and just watching people wasn't really doing anything...so I touched the door. You know, to get a memory of something."

I glanced at Fang. His face was a deceptive calm. "You what?" he asked her. There was no inflection in his voice, but I could tell - and Nudge could, too - that he was _not _happy that she'd done that. I kind of had to agree with him. Practically waltzing into the Itex was not Nudge's brightest idea ever. That might actually have been worse than the incident at the E house when she decided she could be Snow White and brought all of her 'friends' - AKA squirrels, rabbits, assorted woodland creatures - into the house. It took ages to clear up the mess, and guess who had been stuck with it.

I digress.

"I touched the door," she repeated, raising her chin slightly in a classic stubborn-Nudge manner. "Not for very long - and it was at the end of our shift, anyway, so we were leaving."

"You do realize," Iggy interrupted, "that that was really idiotic and you almost just got yourself killed?"

Nudge narrowed her eyes. "But I'm not dead, and I know more stuff now, so do you want to hear it or not?"

"Go ahead," Fang said, his eyes scrutinizing her.

"So," Nudge began, "I found out that after about eleven, all of the scientists are gone. I don't know about guards, but all the whitecoats leave. And during the day, there are a whole ton of people that go in and out-"

"We know _that,_" Gazzy blurted. "Tell them the rest."

I quirked an eyebrow. "What rest?" I asked before I could stop myself.

A smile started to form on Nudge's lips. "Guess who else was here today." Without waiting for us to guess, she answered her own question. "Roland ter Borcht."

Coincidence? I think not!

It came to me in a sudden burst of realization. "I got it!" I exclaimed, and my flock turned to look at me.

Fang raised an eyebrow. "What's your great epiphany?" he asked me. I caught the mocking in his eyes and had to stop myself from saying something snarky. Again, I say - _perfect _self control.

"It's a meeting," I said. "Don't you see? They've got to get back on their feet after - after the whole thing with the Director-" I knew that he would catch my reluctance to elaborate, but plowed on, "-and they've chosen here to meet! It's the only reason that makes sense why so many people that we know are here. They're big players in Itex."

Gazzy cackled evilly. "Can we hit them, Fang? Can we? Please?" I saw his eyes dart to Iggy, and I knew that somewhere in their possession there was some kind of explosive. Cue the ominous music.

Fang looked at his watch again. "Tomorrow. If this meeting hasn't started yet, we might be able to hear something useful."

"How exactly are you proposing we break into the Itex?" I asked him disbelievingly before I could stop myself.

Iggy's face split into a wide grin. "Plan Z."

I looked blankly from one face to the other, all beginning to split into identical grins.

"...What the heck is Plan Z?"

* * *

**A/N: Good question, Max...**

**Reviews make me want to update. =)**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey! Sorry this is up so late on a Friday...it was my brother's birthday today so I'm just now getting time to post. BUT it's up now, so no worries! (Right?) **

**Last time: Max and Iggy came back and told what they saw of Anne and the Head Hunter, Nudge and Gazzy staked out the Itex and saw Roland ter Borcht, and the flock decides to instigate Plan Z...dun dun dun...**

**Here's the chapter!**

* * *

"This is going to be awesome!" Gazzy cackled too close to my ear, making me wince.

Me, I was not so convinced. _Plan that was going to get us killed _would be more accurate in my opinion. But of course, in Gazzy's mind, that pretty much translated as awesome.

"Remember," Fang told him. "Don't let anyone see you_._" Gazzy and Iggy looked at each other, not bothering to hide their smiles. My nervousness peaked another twenty notches.

Wait. I'll back up. Last time I left off with me wondering what in the world Plan Z was, right? Right. Well, I found out. And now I wish that I hadn't.

So here it is. Plan Z is, first and foremost, the biggest distraction known to bird kid kind. It's all based on the idea that it is basically impossible _not_ to watch an explosion. So, Gazzy and Iggy are going to basically destroy around a block of Beijing. Their theory is that since no one can look away from an explosion, everyone in the Itex building will be glued to the windows, watching the street get blown up, while we can sneak in relatively undetected.

Sound stupid to you? Yeah. It did to me, too. Especially since the rest of the flock and I were going to be waiting like fish ready to be shot in a barrel while Gazzy and Iggy did what they did best – blow things up. I just hoped that _we _weren't the ones about to get blown up by Itex.

The rest of the flock was oblivious to my sudden jump into Christianity. Apparently they had implemented this plan before, to great results. They kept mum on exactly why/on what they had used this plan, so – naturally – I was dying to know. But of course, did I get to know? No. The only good thing about this plan was that it was giving me something to do, somewhere to channel all of this pent up energy that I had. It was lucky for the flock that they had decided to do this, because otherwise there would have been a big old Max explosion just waiting to happen.

We were going to be using the fire escapes to get into the building, since even _with _their amazing 'Plan Z', it would be a little too obvious just waltzing in the only door that they had in the building. (Which, I might add, seems to be a bit of a design flaw. I mean, isn't it a little dangerous to only have one door out? What happens if there's a fire? All the scientists try to cram themselves out of the one door?) So while Iggy and Gazzy were setting off the bombs, we would sneak up the fire escapes, climb into the air vents, and find the meeting to listen in. Again with the assuming we could get into the air vents. Reason number 5972 that I did not like this plan.

I'm going to stop ranting about the plan and just get on with the story.

"Alright," Fang was saying. "Meet us back at the rendezvous point in an hour. Go." Gazzy and Ig stole out of the alleyway that we were in and blended right into the crowd. The last thing that I saw of them were their twin grins, vanishing around the corner.

"And now we wait," sighed Nudge.

Fang nodded and leaned against the wall of the Itex building. It was making me twitchy, being so close and having to wait to take action, to get inside. Not to mention that who knew what was going on inside of that building - things that were close to what had happened to me, maybe, or things even worse. Who knew what they had accomplished since the last time I had been in the Itex? What terrible things were they doing now?

I repressed a shudder. That wasn't something that I wanted to be thinking about right now. I needed to stay focused, not think about Itex trying to experiment on me.

"I just wish that we could watch Gazzy and Iggy," Nudge continued in a plaintive tone. "I mean, I know they blow things up all the time, but this is just a bit more...exciting, you know? There's anticipation."

"Mmm," Fang said absently, still staring down the alleyway towards the spot that the two pyros had disappeared.

Nudge spared him a withering glance - maybe irritated at his lack of interest in her words - and turned instead to Angel. "You get it, don't you?" she asked my baby.

Angel smiled at Nudge, probably knowing exactly what answer Nudge wanted her to give. "Yeah, I get it," she said. "I kind of want to watch, too. But it's okay, we'll hear it."

"And we'll kind of see it," Nudge mused. A devilish grin that I didn't recognize stole over her face, surprising me. "We get to see all of the chaos."

"Hold up, wait," I interrupted, a sudden fear taking hold of me. "They _are _setting off these bombs where innocent people won't get hurt, right?"

Fang seemed to come out of whatever reverie he was in and snorted. "Of course they are, Max. They know what they're doing, remember?" He rolled his eyes and turned back towards the alleyway, waiting. I stuck my tongue out at his back. Angel stifled a laugh.

_BOOM!_

A colossal eruption seemed to shake the very ground beneath us. Shrieks and yells from the street simultaneously began, and from the alleyway we could see people running back and forth. Sheesh. Humans. They weren't even hurt and they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

"Well, that was fast," I said out loud.

_BOOM! _

Another explosion sounded, a little closer than the first one had been. I could hear the sirens starting up already and hoped that Gazzy and Iggy were somewhere that they couldn't be caught by police.

I started paying attention to what was going on outside our little bubble of calm. There were tons of people running past our alleyway, not pausing to glance at the four kids that were just standing there as if nothing was wrong - which, for us, there wasn't. It was almost comical - their faces were like cartoons, with bugging eyes and flailing arms. I would have laughed if it hadn't been so serious.

"One more," Fang muttered, "and then -"

_BOOM-BOOM-BA BOOM! _

A series of rapid fire explosions rang out. I imagined Gazzy's cackle ringing out through the din of all the sirens and people.

"Alright, let's go," Fang muttered. He turned to the fire escape behind him and climbed up the ladder that led to the main part of the fire escape, hauling himself up step by step. It would have been so much easier to - I don't know - _fly _up there, but with all of the chaos going on, you never knew when someone would run down this alleyway away from the explosions and spot us, and that we couldn't risk.

One by one, the flock nimbly scaled the fire escape and vaulted over the edge onto the landing, where we climbed all the way to the twentieth floor. Fang stealthily glanced into one of the windows while the rest of us tried to keep relatively out of sight. "It's safe," he breathed. "No one's in this room. Come on." I noticed that he kept his hand close to his gun as he tried the window. Miraculously, it was open.

Nudge grinned. "Too easy."

Fang said nothing, merely dropped inside the building, silent as a shadow. I dropped in after him, landing on the balls of my feet and absorbing most of the landing with my knees. Before I even had a chance to take in my surroundings, I heard the sound of a gun being fired through a silencer and whipped around, expecting to see attackers of some sort, but it was only Fang. He lowered his gun from where he had aimed it at the corner of the ceiling, and I could see the remains of a security camera. Assured that there was no one attempting to attack us, I took in our surroundings.

It looked like we were in some sort of supply room, which explained the lack of human presence. The walls were lined with shelves, which in turn were stacked with boxes upon boxes of _stuff. _I read the labels on some of them. Lab equipment, security tapes...there was _everything _in here. It was like an information gold mine.

Then one caught my eye. _Files: 1990-1995, _it read. I hesitated as Nudge and Angel climbed in the window. If I was right - which I thought I was - I had been born/created around that time, and so had Fang, and Iggy. What if there was something about us in there?

Before I could change my mind, I grabbed a random file from inside the box and stuffed it inside of my jacket.

Fang turned towards the doorway, thankfully missing what I'd just done. "Come on," he whispered. "We need to find a vent and get to the meeting room. It should be on this floor, right, Angel?"

Angel nodded. "Yep. That's what I saw, anyway."

_Oh. _I was beginning to understand why Fang was willing to take so many 'risks' with this plan. He already knew the whole blueprint of the building - Angel must have seen it in someone's head. It made more sense now.

I could hear another explosion from outside, and I wondered just how long Gazzy and Iggy would be able to keep this up. Just how many bombs had they stored inside of those backpacks, anyway?

Fang lead the way into the hallway, creeping along the side of the wall. He quickly took out the other security camera as soon as he spotted it. There was no one in the hallway - because, as planned, everyone had plastered themselves to the windows, watching the chaos outside. I guessed that Iggy and Gazzy had placed their explosions far enough away so the stuck up whitecoats wouldn't feel too threatened, but wouldn't be able to look away, either.

The hallway seemed too bright for my eyes. The light was harsh, and made a slight buzzing noise that seemed to fill my ears as we inched down the hallway. It seemed like we had gone a mile out in the open - though it was probably really only a few yards - until we reached a large vent in the side of the wall. Fang took out a screwdriver and quickly took the vent cover off of the side of the wall. "I'll go in first," he whispered, so low that I wouldn't have been able to hear him if he hadn't been standing right next to me. "Nudge, you bring up the rear. Make sure to put the vent back in behind you." Nudge nodded, her face serious. Fang crawled into the vent, followed by me, then Angel, and finally Nudge. I heard the chink of the vent closing into place, and my breathing sped up.

Reason number 5973 why I did not like this plan.

Claustrophobia.

Maybe Fang had gotten over his or something - I knew that Nudge and Angel had never had it as bad as Fang and I did - but this was making me go haywire. I hated being enclosed in this tight, dark place. I hated, hated, _hated _it. My body was breaking out in a cold sweat, and I was becoming dangerously close to hyperventilating. _Relax, Max, _I tried to tell myself. _Deep breaths. You'll be fine. It's for the best. You won't get trapped here, you won't possibly die...._

That. Was not. WORKING.

It seemed like hours before I could hear voices through the vent. Fang moved a little farther forward and peered through the vent cover. Since I had been lucky enough to be after him, I was able to crowd close enough to get a look inside the room we were currently 'in'.

It was a large conference room, and a stereotypical one at that - long, rectangular table with swivel chairs, boring decor, you know, the works. At first glance it seemed to be empty, but - I craned my neck - I could just barely make out the picture of several well dressed individuals staring transfixed out of the window.

One of the men harrumphed. "I think," he said pompously in a British accent, "that we should return to business. We have things to continue discussing, after all." I recognized the voice and manner immediately. It was the Head Hunter. I resisted the urge to throw up in my mouth and listened harder.

A dark haired woman that I didn't recognize sighed and turned around. "Yes, I suppose you are right," she said. Her voice had a lilt to it that sounded vaguely Spanish, but it was hard to hear an accent - she spoke very good English. "Shall we?" she gestured to the table.

I saw someone that I recognized to be Anne take a spot at the table across from the vent. The Head Hunter took one directly across from her. An Asian man took a spot at the head of the table while the other scientists seated themselves. This, I was assuming, was the head of the Chinese Itex.

"We were speaking of the Greek project," he said, once everyone had been situated. I had to strain to understand his words. His accent wasn't quite as polished as the Spanish woman's was. "What is to be done with them? They were, after all, the pet project of Marian."

_He calls her Marian, _I noted. _They must have been relatively close to be on a first name basis. _

"Well, I say that we continue research and testing," said Anne, and my eyes narrowed. "We're so close to the final stage; it would be a shame to just back down now that we've gotten so close to perfection."

"I agree," said the Spanish woman. "Personally, I would like to see how this last experiment is going to turn out. If we thought that the first one had no flaws...after so many improvements, how perfect will this one be?"

"So are we agreed?" asked the Chinese man, evidently impatient to keep this meeting moving.

The - I counted quickly - eight delegates nodded.

"Good," he said curtly, "then on to the next and last order of business." I felt a flash of disappointment. We must have missed most of the meeting. "This, as you know," he continued, "is the most sensitive topic that we have to tackle." I leaned forward as much as I could, straining to hear the next statement. "Who is going to be the new Head Director of Itex?"

The conference room was silent for a moment. Then everyone started speaking at once.

"I think that-"

"The best candidate would be-"

"I'm perfectly qualified, of course-"

"Ladies and gentleman! Silence, please!" The Chinese Director cried. The room became quiet again. He took a deep breath. "Those who believe they are qualified to become Director of the Itexicon Corporation, please raise your hand."

Eight hands rose in the air. I looked closely at Anne. She wasn't looking at the Chinese Director - she had a slightly vacant look on her face, and seemed to be debating something internally.

Huh. Wonder what that was all about.

"Should we wait for the other delegates to take a vote as well?" The Head Hunter asked.

"No," answered another man immediately. "The people sitting here represent the eight largest Itex branches in the world. The others are insignificant. If they don't like who we choose here, then they will just have to deal with it."

Ouch. Cold.

"Alright, here is what we will do," The Chinese Director said. "We'll put it to a vote - but you _cannot _vote for yourself, understood? The person with the most votes, obviously, will be the new Director. There will be a period of three days in which protests - if any - can be made, and at the end of the three days, if there are no valid protests made, that man or woman will be the new Director."

Another explosion sounded outside, and I nearly jumped. It had been so long without an explosion that I had thought they'd stopped.

The scientists looked around nervously. "Perhaps," said a man - ter Borcht, I recognized with a jolt - "ve should hurry the voting up a bit."

"Yes, very well," the Chinese man said. "Those who vote for Rodriguez?"

No hands were raised. The Spanish woman looked furious.

"Those for ter Borcht?" One hand - the Head Hunter.

"Those for me - Cao?" Two hands went up. Anne's was one of them.

"Those for Walker?" Three hands.

"Those for Pruitt?" One hand.

"Well," the Chinese man said, "There's really no point in continuing, is there? Seven votes have been cast. There are no other candidates that could possibly have the majority. Therefore-" it looked like it was causing him great pain to say the words. ter Borcht looked like he was about ready to strangle someone, his face was so red.

"Anne Walker?" She looked up at the Chinese Director. Fang and I looked at each other, our faces both identical mirrors of shock.

"You are the new Director of Itex."


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys! I am so, so sorry that I couldn't update on Friday - I completely forgot to tell you that I was going out of town! AGH! Anyway, I just got home Sunday night, so I am literally posting this as soon as I can. (You guys didn't send me any messages...I was actually kind of halfway disappointed, haha.)**

**But anyway....without further ado, here it is. **

* * *

My head was spinning. _Anne? _Anne Walker was the new Director? For a moment, I was so stunned that I forgot to stay alert and watchful. Luckily, Fang had a little more discipline than me at the moment.

"We've got to move," he said. "I gave Gazzy and Iggy one hour. There's fifteen minutes left." My eyes widened slightly. I didn't want to think about what would happen if all of the whitecoats were standing in the hallway when we popped out of the air vent. Absolutely nothing good was going to come out of that.

I started to nudge Angel to get her to get going, but she had already heard us - or our thoughts - and had already turned. I could hear Nudge ahead of her begin crawling back to where we had entered. I thanked the few lucky stars that I had left that bird kids are built lightly, and don't fall through air vents. If I had a rosary, I would have kissed it.

It took us another few minutes, but we reached the vent opening. I could hear Fang shift his weight to check his watch. "Right on time," he whispered.

I didn't even have time to ask for what when the biggest explosion yet shook the building. It honestly felt like an earthquake, and a strong one at that. "Now!" Fang whisper-shouted. If that makes any sense. "Go, Nudge!" I blinked and Nudge had sprung out of the air vent and landed with barely a sound onto the carpeted floor of the Itex. I clambered out after Angel and ran as silently as I could down the hall, back to the supply room. I checked over my shoulder. There was no sign of any workers in the near vicinity.

By the time I reached the door of the room, Nudge had already heaved herself out of the window. I had to give Angel a boost - the room wasn't nearly wide enough for her to spread her wings - and then I climbed out after her. I glanced back at Fang, to make sure he was following. His dark eyes were flitting around the room, cataloging, ensuring we were safe, but they settled on me when he noticed that I had paused. "Go!" he urged me. "Hurry up!"

I turned and hauled myself up and out of the window. Nudge and Angel were waiting for us on the fire escape. Nudge glanced at the stairs, glanced back at Fang, and said, "Forget it." She unfurled her tawny wings, nearly whacking me in the face, and jumped off the fire escape, casting a shadow on the ground. I turned to look at Fang, who looked as stunned as he ever does.

I shrugged. "Hey," I said. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." I didn't even bother to hide my grin as I jumped off as well, losing my worry in the thrill of the adrenaline rush.

* * *

We met Gazzy and Iggy at a museum entrance far, far from the Itex building. When we arrived, trying hard to look like "Wings? _Us?" _Gazzy and Ig were already there. They were still cracking up from their most recent escapade. Or should I say escapades?

"That - was - AWESOME!" Gazzy gasped for air between laughs. He slapped Iggy a high five, who met it spot on. It still amazed me how he managed to do that every time.

"The police weren't looking in _nearly _the right spot," Iggy cackled. I could feel the worry beginning to grow in my stomach. I wanted to tackle him and tell him to shut up - was he crazy, talking about this where everyone could hear him? But then again - I looked around - there was so much utter _chaos _in the streets that I doubted anyone would hear. But still - you just _don't _do that.

Iggy stopped laughing for long enough to interrogate us. "So? How'd it go? What did you find out? Any important things?"

"Loads," said Fang. "Anne is the new Director of Itex."

This shut my pyros up. Iggy nearly fell backwards off of the ledge he was sitting on. "W-what?" sputtered Gazzy. "_Our _Anne? The one that we stayed with?"

"The one and only," I told him.

The Gasman and Iggy stared at me. Well, Gazzy stared, Iggy just...you know what I mean, I'm not even going to explain it. "Wow," said Gazzy. "Out of all the people...how did they choose her?"

"A vote," I answered. I glanced at Fang to make sure he wasn't staring me down for kinda sorta taking charge. He wasn't glaring, so I took that as a sign that he didn't care. "Only three people voted for her, but there were only eight leaders there, and they were all split as to who they wanted."

"We can talk about this later," Fang said, and I knew he was uncomfortable talking about this out in the open. "Let's find somewhere safer."

See.

"We _might _have overdone it a bit," I heard Iggy say to Fang as they led us down the steps.

"What makes you say that?" Fang asked. I recognized the same deceptively calm tone that I used.

"Uh...is there a TV where we're headed?" Iggy asked. "Because I'm about a hundred percent sure that it's going to be on the news."

I resisted the urge to smack my palm against my forehead. _I _knew that Plan Z was a bad idea. But does anyone listen to Max these days? Noooo. Sure, it got us in, but now what the heck is going to happen?

"We'll find a TV," Fang said, a hint of strain weaving his words together. "If you blew it for us, Iggy..." he let his sentence trail off threateningly.

"I don't know about blew it, but a lot of things were blown _up," _Iggy said.

Fang's hand twitched as if he was itching to whack Iggy upside the head.

"Max!" I looked down. Gazzy was poking me. "You should have seen it! It was so awesome!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, was it?"

Gazzy nodded enthusiastically. "They were never even _close _to us, and Iggy got a hold of some-"

"_Gazzy!" _came a yell from up ahead.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry!" Gazzy called back. "But anyway, it was _amazing,_" he finished, undaunted.

I grinned. "I bet. It was probably a ton of fun, huh?" Gazzy nodded. "But," I continued, slightly more serious, "you know that being too obvious could be _really _bad for all of us, right?"

Gazzy's face dropped just the slightest bit. "Yeah..."

"Just keep it in mind," I told him. I leaned closer and whispered, "But when the bad guys need their butts whooped, we'll know who can take care of them, right?"

Gazzy's grin returned. "Yeah!"

I smiled back at him. "Okay, then, we're good."

Gazzy beamed up at me one more time and scampered ahead to catch up with Iggy. I saw Fang glance back for the smallest instant. I smirked. _Take that, Fang. That's how you lead. _

It took us longer than it should have to find a television, seeing as we had to fight out way through the panicking crowd. Finally, we found an appliance store where absolutely every television was turned to the news. It was packed with a vast, loud crowd, which had split off into factions to watch the news on the TVs. We snagged a TV to ourselves and then realized something important - we couldn't understand a single word.

"Are there subtitles or something?" Gazzy asked, frowning.

"Aw, man!" Iggy complained. "I'm not gonna know what's going on!"

"Sorry," Fang said, clapping him on the shoulder. "We'll narrate. Nudge, figure out how to pull up subtitles on this thing."

"Okay," Nudge said agreeably, brown fingers already examining the TV. It wasn't long before words began scrolling across the screen.

"As you can see," Nudge read aloud for Iggy, "buildings went unharmed, but the park is devastated." The screen cut from the reporter's face and scanned a park area. My jaw dropped. It was completely and utterly _decimated. _

"Dear Lord," I whispered. "There's craters the size of the moon out there!" Gazzy and Iggy fist bumped. Fang groaned. I half wanted to join him.

"Police aren't sure," Nudge continued, raising her voice to make us listen, "who exactly is responsible for these attacks. It doesn't seem to be the work of terrorists, as no government buildings were at all harmed in any way, but this was no school boy prank."

Oh, how little they knew.

"Police say that they did not see anyone that was likely to have set off the bombs, as there were many civilians in the park at that time, but they are working around the clock for evidence as to who may have committed this heinous crime."

"I don't think it's _that _heinous," Iggy snorted.

I elbowed him. "Shut up. You don't know who speaks English in here." He elbowed me right back. Such a gentleman, my brother is.

Fang stretched. "Okay, so they didn't catch you. Bonus. But you guys still went a little overboard."

"I thought it was cool," Angel piped up as a clip of one of the mushroom clouds from Iggy and Gazzy's 'masterpieces' was played on the television screen.

This time, I really did groan.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the shorter filler chapter - I'm really stressed out this week and I needed to get something up. It was going to be longer, but I think you would rather have an update...right? I'm still going to shoot for updating this Friday, though, so there's a shorter wait this time around. **

**Next chapter: Max opens the files and she and Fang have a little conversation. **

**Again, sorry for the filler. (My chapters are never this short!) Next chapter has a bit more development. =) **


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Whoo! This chapter is so much longer than the last one was. So be happy. **

**MESSAGE TO ALL LURKERS - I see you on my stats page. LEAVE A REVIEW.**

**I'm done now. **

* * *

"I hope you know I hate you."

No, actually, that wasn't me, Iggy, _or _Fang. That was Nudge, talking to Fang, because he wouldn't let her watch _America's Next Top Model _on TV. Yeah, I'm not kidding. Welcome to my life.

We had found a cheap motel place to stay in for the night, because Fang was paranoid about being out in the open. So was I, for that matter, especially since Iggy and Gazzy's little...uh..._adventure, _we'll call it. Sleeping out in the open where crazy people could find us was not very high on my list of priorities, you know?

I was being a loner - as my sad usual these days - and lying on one of the uncomfortable beds, debating on taking those stolen files out of my backpack later. We were all congregated in the boys' room - we had one for the boys, and one for the girls - and so _obviously _Nudge wasn't going to get her way, and I don't even know why she was asking about it.

But on the other hand, I got to see the Nudge that I'd left. And that was nice.

Fang, Iggy, and the Gasman were trying to get a basketball game on TV, which I didn't understand because I kind of thought that Asian people were short. (Don't judge me, I have no education!) Iggy was sprawled out across the bed next to mine. Fang was standing up next to the TV, fiddling with it because it had no remote like the piece of crap it was. Gazzy was bouncing off the walls, still on his post explosion high, Nudge was whining like I said, and Angel was being unusually, scarily quiet.

Hmm. Might have to look into that one.

"Nudge, do us all a favor," said Iggy lazily, "and shut up."

She shot him a poisonous glare that he couldn't see. "What? I bet even on this thing I could get English subtitles to come up. I wouldn't be making me mad if I were you." Iggy glared at her back.

I rubbed my temples. I could feel a headache starting to come on. A non-Voice induced one. Speaking of which...I hadn't heard from Jeb much lately. I really hope that I didn't just jinx that, because I will almost literally shoot myself in the head if I did.

The sounds of a basketball game came on and I glanced over at Fang, who had allowed himself a tiny little half smirk of satisfaction. "YES!" Iggy crowed. "Take that, Nudge! We're watching basketball; go back in your room and watch America's Next Top Barbie or whatever."

"Top _Model,_" Nudge corrected. "And everyone 's in here, I don't want to go by myself." Then a devilish look came over her face. I looked nervously from her to Iggy. Uh oh. "It's too bad you won't let me watch it, Iggy," she started. "I mean, models are good looking. It's their job to be."

Here we go.

Iggy's head snapped up. "What?"

"Oh, did you not catch the _model _part of America's Next Top Model?" Nudge asked innocently. "I mean, if you wanted to, you could listen, and I bet Fang would describe them for you..." she let her sentence trail off. Oh, she was an evil little twelve year old. _Evil. _

Iggy looked at Fang.

"_No," _Fang said instantly.

"Fang, come on-"

"No."

"_Hot girls." _

"Still no."

The sounds of the basketball game were suddenly cut off. Nudge had flipped it over to the next channel. Fang narrowed his eyes, then sighed and resorted to just flipping Nudge over his shoulder onto the bed behind him, nearly smashing Iggy. Angel came over to sit next to Nudge, interested.

"Aw, Nudge, come on!" Gazzy whined. "I was watching the game!"

"Shh," Iggy said, waving his hands at Gazzy. "I want to listen to hot girls."

Insert forehead smacking here. Stupid sexist pig.

I frowned, definitely not interested in watching models prance around a catwalk. But then again...maybe I could take a look at those files. I glanced to my left. Fang and Gazzy were playing rock-paper-scissors, uninterested in Nudge's show. Iggy, Nudge and Angel were thoroughly engrossed in the TV. Maybe now...since I was never on watch...I could take a look at those files.

I slid my backpack onto the bed, which creaked loudly and made Fang glance over. I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. He went back to talking with Gazzy, to my great relief. I unzipped my backpack and pulled out the thick file folder that I'd pilfered from Itex's file room. I noticed for the first time that across the front the word _INFILTRATION _was written in huge letters. I frowned slightly. So maybe these files _weren't _about us at all.

I flipped open the cover of the file to a cover page. THE INFILTRATION PROJECT, it read in large capital letters. It was boring, nondescript. Just a few words on a white piece of paper. I flipped this over, too. The next page was covered in text. Interested, I bent my nose closer to the page to read.

**THE INFILTRATION PROJECT**

**HEADED BY**: Roland ter Borcht

**COMMENCEMENT DATE**: 1-1-1991

**SUMMARY**: _The Infiltration Project (conceived and created by Roland ter Borcht) is, quite simply, a master plan to insert Itex scientists or loyalists into the governments of countries around the world. The idea, in essence, is quite simple - if positions of power are filled with people sympathetic to or employed by the Itexicon Corporation, then implementation of the By-Half Plan (to begin in roughly 2005) will be much simpler. _

_Beginning in 1992, the new 'leaders' will be begin to be put into place. Selected people will be in charge of making sure they get the correct amount of votes, in some countries, or making sure that the right group seizes power in others. This replacement of politicians by Itex leaders will continue for around a decade. For a period of time, it should stay relatively quiet. Leaders will make changes in legislation that benefit Itex. There will also be people on lower levels of administration that ensure the corporation is not discovered and/or sued. _

_Later, the Infiltration Project will play a much greater role. When the By-Half plan is finally enacted, the leaders of each selected country will declare war on another pre-determined country. Because of the various alliances already in place, this will cause another world war. (Ref- World War I) Though the main weapon of the By-Half plan is the 'natural' global warming, the war will continue until it wipes out a projected 1/3 of the young male population. _

Here the page ended. I glanced up from the file, utterly and completely stunned. Wow.

"Reading something interesting?"

I jumped about a mile into the air. "Jesus freaking Christ, Fang, don't scare me like that!" I exclaimed.

Fang was standing above me, arms crossed. He pointed to the top of the page. "That's the Itex logo. What are you reading, and why do you have it?"

Busted.

Making one of my quick Max snap decisions, I held up the paper. "Have you guys heard anything about the Infiltration Project yet?"

Fang looked slightly curious in spite of himself. "No."

I shoved the paper at his face. "Well, then, you need to read this."

He took it with a slightly dismissive look at me, but as he scanned the paper, his eyes got wider and wider. He looked at me in shock. "Where did you get this?" he demanded.

"What's going on?" asked Nudge, finally catching on to our conversation and alerting the rest of the flock.

"Remember that file room that we came in through?" I prompted him. "You wouldn't believe how much stuff they have in there that is just _dying _to be nicked."

"Will someone please tell me what the heck is going on?" Nudge demanded.

"Max found something," Fang told her. "Something important."

"Ooh, really?" asked Angel. "What did you find, Max?"

"A file," I told her. "Apparently, Itex has people in governments all over the world." Which, you know, is _just _what we needed at the moment. Not.

Fang handed the file to Nudge, who had come up behind him. "Max," he began, "you _do _realize that once they find out that the file is gone, they'll know that we were _there?" _

I snorted. "Oh, please. Because you shooting out a few cameras was oh so subtle. Yeah, they're definitely _not _going to figure out that there were intruders after that one."

Silence from Fang. Point for Max. Bwa ha ha.

"Holy crap," Nudge blurted after she was finished reading. "Holy _crap. _Itex planted people in government? But no wonder there are all these wars going on! What if there are people listening to us _right now?" _She had a valid point there. Fang and Iggy glanced at each other.

"Girls, Gazzy - next room. _Bed." _Fang ordered.

"Aw, come on!" Gazzy complained. "This is my room, too!" He quailed under one of Fang's infamous glares. "Okay, I'm going." He scooted out of the room.

Fang looked at me. "Last time I checked, you were a girl."

I lifted my chin, crossing my arms. He did _not _just insinuate that I needed to get out of the room. Oh, hell no. "And last time _I _checked I was the one that found the file and got you the info in the first place. So I'm going to stay sitting right here. But thanks anyway."

Fang rolled his eyes, but he didn't argue with me. Iggy looked like he wanted to punch Fang for letting me stay. I smiled innocently at him, wishing that he could see my expression.

"Do you realize what this means?" Fang asked us in a whisper. He sat on the bed across from the one I was on. Iggy sat next to him.

"It means that we are royally screwed," said Iggy.

I rolled my eyes. "No, blind pyro. But that's part of it. It _means _that Itex can do whatever it wants, in whatever part of the world, and _no one will stop them." _

Fang nodded. "This is bad. This is beyond bad."

"You're preaching to the choir," I told him.

"Where exactly in the room did you find this?" he asked me.

"It was in a box," I said. "On the third shelf on the left hand side of the room. The box was marked 1990-1995."

"Well, that's no help," Fang muttered. I shrugged. Wasn't much for me to do about that.

Nudge poked her head in the door. "Iggy? Can you come here? Angel says she needs to talk to you."

"I'm doing something," Iggy said pointedly.

"Please?" Nudge pleaded. "You know how Angel gets when she wants something."

Iggy heaved a long, dramatic sigh. "Fine. But I better get to listen to some more model action at some point. Preferably a cat fight."

Nudge just shook her head as she shut the door behind Iggy.

Too late I realized that this left me alone with Fang. Crap crap double crap. There was a very awkward silence.

"Had you heard of this before?" Fang asked.

I shook my head. "I mean...I guess we always should have guessed it. Everything always seemed to work out just a little bit too well, you know? It was so obvious if we just looked..."

Fang grunted in agreement.

"What about when you were gone?" he asked me bluntly.

I met his stare. "Really cut right to the chase, don't you?"

He shrugged one shoulder.

I sighed. "Other than the fact that I was watching World War III start before my eyes, no, I didn't notice anything." I shut my mouth forcefully, trying not to say anything more, but before I could stop, the words came pouring out.

"Why the heck do you feel the sadistic need to keep bringing it back up in the first place? Okay, I left. I get that it hurt you guys, it hurt me too! I already told Iggy all of this! Just quit it and leave the past in the past already!"

Fang, being Fang, got right back in my face. "Why do I keep bringing it back up? Maybe because I want you to hurt just as bad as I did for the _year _that you were gone! And you might have hurt, but you made a _choice _to leave, Max, and we didn't have a choice at all, because you left for your little selfish reasons without thinking about what it would do to the rest of us."

My mouth dropped open. I was so angry that I could barely find words. "Selfish reasons? _Selfish reasons? _I left to stop from killing you, you _asshole!" _My voice was rising, but I found that I could care less.

"It would have been fine," Fang said stubbornly. "We could have handled it without you deserting us." We had both stood up from the beds, nose to nose.

"Yeah?" I challenged him. "Remember when I punched you before I left? _That wasn't me controlling my arm. _They were literally controlling my body, Fang, it was like I was some toy on remote control! I'd like to see _you _deal with that!"

"I'd like to see _you _deal with four devastated other members of your family that were left behind by the person that they love the most," Fang shot back at me, hitting me where it hurt. "Because that's what they were, Max, they were a mess. And it was your fault. You want to know why I'm mad? There it is."

"No," I disagreed, clenching my teeth. "You want to know why you're really mad? You're mad because I didn't tell you and you wanted to be the hero and swoop down and save me. Well, I _didn't need saving. _I can do things perfectly fine on my own!"

"When did we even start talking about you being independent?" Fang exploded, throwing his hands in the air. "You're impossible! Yeah, sure, whatever, I was mad because you didn't tell me things. But aren't you _supposed _to? Wasn't I supposed to be the one that you told everything?" He shook his head in disgust. "Well, maybe now you can be shut out like you shut _us _out."

And with that, he left the room, slamming the door behind him.


	15. author's note with GOOD NEWS!

**Okay, sorry, this isn't a chapter. **

**BUT I HAVE GOOD NEWS! WAIT WAIT WAIT! (and bad news...but that's not the point)**

**So, these past few months have been track season. My parents, being who they are, decided it would be a good idea to tell me that I couldn't write because I needed to concentrate on school and track. **

**WHAT. **

**That was the bad news. The GOOD news is that it's SUMMER! Meaning no track and no school! I'm not going to lie to you and say that I'll update every day, because I won't, but I WILL try to update on schedule again. AND I have three pages of the next chapter done that should be up soon! **

**That's basically it...I'm going to sign on my poor, neglected FF account, answer all of the angry reviews and PMs, and hope that people even looked at their email to read this gay author's note. And then publish the next chapter, of course. =)**

**Oh, yeah, if you want a recap just tell me. Or you could reread and remember pretty much everything. I'm kind of too anxious to write the next chapter to type a recap right now. So yeah. **

**UNTIL THE NEXT CHAPTER, LOVELY READERS!**


	16. Chapter 14

**A/N: Is this a new chapter? YES IT IS! I'm getting back on my Friday update schedule, but I'll let you guys know when I'm going out of town and everything. (Sorry for the fact that yes, today is Saturday and not Friday - but I'm working on it. =D) **

**Something to keep in mind: Anne was voted Director of Itex a few chapters ago (ring a bell?). **

* * *

Needless to say, things were worse than usual between Fang and I the next day. We were coldly polite to each other, a hair short of snarling our sentences at the other. The flock watched us on tenterhooks - probably waiting for another Fang vs. Max Ultimate Showdown. Trust me when I say this - I was damn close to what they were all waiting for.

I was _mad. _I could not believe that Fang had actually said those things to me! It was just ridiculous. After all I had done - all I had _put _myself through - he had the nerve to go out and say that I was being selfish and only thinking about myself.

Okay, thickhead, maybe next time I won't _save your freaking life. _

Breathe.

It really didn't help that every second of spare time I had, I was reliving our little...argument...and it just kept getting me angrier. The boy had _nerve. _

Anyway, Fang had decided that we would keep this as our 'base' of sorts for awhile - I had been _kind _enough (_ahem_) after I left to leave them the Maximum Ride limitless credit card, so it wouldn't be any trouble at all. The only problem was it was going to make me antsy staying in one spot when we had just invaded an Itex not twenty four hours ago. Once upon a time, this would have made Fang crazy, too. Either even more things had changed or he was suffering so he could tick me off more.

Wonder which one it was.

We were using the rare opportunity of relative safety to catch up on some much needed R&R. Fang was spread out across his bed on his laptop, typing something in. Iggy and Nudge were leaning against the foot of the other bed watching the news, trying to see if they could pick up anything on the Itex situation. Gazzy was flipping through one of his comic books next to me, and Angel was on my lap, just kind of chilling out. I had one hand on the bed supporting my weight and the other was stroking her blond curls.

_You shouldn't be so mad at Fang, _Angel sent a thought into my head. I was grateful for a split second that she hadn't chosen to speak aloud, but then was quickly irritated again as I thought about Fang.

I didn't know how to reply to her. _I'm sorry? _I tried. _It's kind of hard not to be, Ange. He said some mean stuff. _There was no need to tell her everything.

_He's hurt, Max, _Angel thought. _He just doesn't know how to deal with it yet. He wants everything to go back to the way it was, but he doesn't know how. _

_He's doing a crappy job of making things go back to normal, _I thought bitterly before I could stop myself. _Sorry. I didn't mean that. _

_Yes you did, _Angel reprimanded. _And you're not trying that hard either. _

_What do you want me to do? _I exclaimed...in my thoughts...my life needs a reality check. _I can't just start acting like the leader again out of the blue. Fang won't accept that. Neither will Iggy. That's just a fact. _

_Maybe they will, _Angel thought. _If you try hard enough. _

Well, that wasn't cryptic at all. She was as bad as the freaking Voice.

_Well, since you have time, _she said after a pause. _Why don't you look at the rest of those files that you stole? _

I blinked. _That's a good idea, _I said, trying to keep the surprise out of my thoughts.

_I try, _Angel said, and I thought I could hear a hint of smugness. Note to self - keep Angel in line before she tries to take over as leader. Angel hopped off my lap and brought me the file folder, which had been poking out of my tattered backpack.

"Here you go," she chirped, handing it to me.

"Thanks, babe," I said with a smile. She grinned at me, flashing pearly white baby teeth, and sat back down on my lap. It was a little disconcerting how young she was and how much power she had. Actually, scratch that, a _lot _disconcerting. But who was I to talk? I was supposed to save the world and I'm not even old enough to vote yet.

I flipped open the cover again, moving past the papers about the Infiltration Project. I glanced sideways at Stubborn As A Male Donkey (a.k.a. Fang) and wondered if he was looking for more info just like I was. My eyes narrowed. I decided that I didn't care.

I had just gotten to the newer section when - "Yo, Flock," Fang interrupted. "We need to go check stuff out in the real world. We'll come back."

"What do you mean, 'check stuff out'?" Iggy asked him. "What is there to look for? We blew up half a street, people think there are terrorists, and Anne is the new Itex Director. The end."

Fang shrugged one shoulder. "I figured that there might be something out there - something small - that might give us a clue as to how much Itex has taken over within China."

I just looked at him. "And you're going to what, search randomly until you find this piece of information that might not exist?" His head whipped around to face me, but before he could say anything, I cut him off. "Thanks, but no thanks." I held up the files in my hands. "It might be a little easier to just look through _these._"

I was rewarded with watching Fang struggle for something to say. He could go with his plan, which was a piece of crap, or he could go with my plan, the good one, but lose face in front of the Flock. His glare burned two holes in my face. F-Nick was stuck. I twirled the files in my hands, feeling a smug smile stretch across my face.

"Fine," he caved. "What do they say?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Impatient? Gimme a second, geez, I have to look through them. Duh." It felt good, siphoning off all of my irritation into Fang. Was it probably really bitchy? Yep. Did I care?

I'll let you figure out the answer to that question by yourselves.

"Here, Fang," I said sweetly, taking the top few pieces of paper from the stack and extending them towards him. "You can read through these. We'll split them up and we can all read. It'll get done faster." Fang stared at me, and I could see him struggling not to yell at me in front of the flock. Finally, he took the papers from my hand.

"You know, Max," Iggy spoke up. "It was awfully lucky that you just 'happened' to pick those files."

I glanced at him. I was really in a "take no shit" mood at the moment. "Yeah, it was. I happen to have extremely bad luck and extremely good luck. Bad luck - I grew up in a cage. Good luck - I pulled a random file and it was really important. See my point?"

Iggy huffed and crossed his arms. "Hey, Gasman. Read your papers to me," he ordered, finding someone else to boss around. I didn't bother hiding my grin. I didn't know how long they were going to tolerate me telling them what to do - and basically taking over leader again - but while they did, I sure as hell was going to savor it.

"Okay," Gazzy answered reluctantly, tearing his eyes away from the comic book. "What are we looking for, Max?"

I could practically hear Fang grinding his teeth. "She's not sure," he cut in swiftly. "Just see if you can find anything important."

I glared at him. God, I wished I had heat vision. Where the heck was _that _update? "Actually, Gasman, if you can find any info on that Infiltration Plan, it would probably be really helpful," I corrected. Gazzy looked from me to Fang with his blue eyes wide. I knew that he'd seen way too many Fang/Max fights to not realize when the two of us were fighting - and he had probably heard us yelling the night before anyway. I ruffled his hair and gave him a reassuring smile. "Okay, bud?" I asked.

He seemed to relax a bit. "Okay."

I grinned at him. "Good. Like Iggy said, you can read yours out loud to him and then he has something to do, too." _And it'll keep his mind off of creating any new bombs to blow _me _up. _I handed him some papers as well.

I gave Nudge and Angel some papers to read through as well, and then settled back with the ones that I had left. I noticed that Fang had set the papers to the side and was back on his laptop, his silent way of flipping me the bird. Well, whatever.

I lost myself in reading through the papers that I had, trying to glean every last bit of information that I could from them. Most of the stuff that I had was - well, not normal, but I wasn't sure how it was helpful to us right now. There were records of failed experiments for the 'new world' that they would create, and let me tell you, some of those records were not for those with weak stomachs. I shouldn't have been surprised - I had lived under the control of Itex for ten years, after all - but I was. It still amazed me that they could be so cruel to little, innocent children. I had to force myself to keep reading and not just put them aside.

By the time that I had made it through my stack, I had found out absolutely nothing other than the fact that the people that worked for Itex were cold-hearted a-holes.

Well, this sucked.

**Chinese Itex HQ**

Anne Walker sat at her temporary desk, trying to go over the memo that had been emailed to her. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, however, she kept rereading the same paragraph over and over again. Eventually, she gave it up as a hopeless cause and leaned back, rubbing her temples. She had a pounding headache that she doubted any pain killer could alleviate.

She was still attempting to get used to the fact that she was the new Director of Itex. The _whole _thing. Director of the American branch she could handle - that was on a much smaller scale. But the entire thing? She wasn't sure that she could do it - or wanted to, for that matter. She had raised her hand, of course, but that was politics of Itex - you had to believe that you were worth something to get anything. She hadn't expected to actually _win. _

First of all her worries, there was the fact that only eight leaders had been at that fateful meeting, and only three of the eight had voted for her. That was three countries - in the world - that wanted her as leader. It wasn't a very comforting number. What if someone tried to kill her? She knew this company like the back of her hand; knew all of the dirt that they sometimes had to associate with. It would be easy for someone to just decide to off her.

And then there was that whole 'ruling the world' issue. It was a given that the Director of Itex would have control of what they decided would be the world after all of their plans were completed. Anne was ambitious, yes, and she was not about to lie and say that she didn't enjoy power. The idea of actually being ruler of the world was enticing, alluring, and it was that that scared her away. She was afraid of the mistakes she would inevitably make.

A knock came at the door, and she straightened automatically, removing her hands from her temples and concentrating on appearing cool and in control. That was an important part of working in Itex - _never _appear as if you were not in complete control, or someone would find the chink on your armor as soon as possible.

"Yes?" she asked, letting a hint of superiority ooze into her tone.

The door opened - it was Riley, her new assistant. "Director Walker?" he asked, though she didn't know why. Who the hell else would it be? "Director Cao is here to see you. Shall I tell him you're busy?"

"No, it's fine," she sighed. "Let him in."

Riley stood back and let the Chinese Director pass through the doorway. She and the Chinese Director got along well, but due to their differing opinions on how experiments should be used never saw completely eye to eye. He had no qualms against using them as weapons during the war. She thought that that was a waste of good money and research - but he didn't seem to understand that.

"Yes, Cao?" she asked, already exasperated.

He cast a surly glance at Riley, still standing in the doorway. She refrained from rolling her eyes and waved her hand for Riley to leave and close the door. Once he had done so, Cao began to speak in a low undertone. He didn't bother to sit down.

"Now you listen here, Anne. We may have gotten along well in the past - relatively so, anyway - but I don't know if I can tolerate this recent development."

"Meaning my becoming the new Director?" Anne asked, cutting straight to the chase.

Cao gave a curt nod.

Anne leaned back in her chair. "I suppose you think you're better suited to the job?"

He drew himself up to his full height. "Of course I am! _I _was the one who put most of the By-Half plan into effect; it was _my _research that started the Greek project, and _my _branch of Itex was chosen for this meeting today. Need I even go on?"

"No, you needn't," Anne said coldly. "As you may have noticed, they didn't vote for you. They voted for me. And you can't change that - so you can stop whining or get out of my office." Privately, she thought that maybe Cao really _should _have gotten the job - but it was no use showing weakness to someone who so obviously wanted to take her down.

"Just you wait, Walker," he continued, placing both hands on her desk and leaning forward. "I'll get that job. And you will be nothing - _nothing - _compared to me." He spun on his heel, threw the door open, and left the office. Anne could hear his heavy footfalls all the way up the hallway.

Once he was safely out of sight again, Anne reburied her face in her hands.

This was not what she had planned for when she came to China.


	17. Chapter 15

**Fang POV**

Fighting with your best friend is never fun.

Of course, Max technically wasn't his best friend anymore - they weren't even really friends - but he'd be damned if she wasn't just as good at riling him up as she used to be. She was so _infuriating! _Okay, he might have been kind of out of line, saying that she left for selfish reasons - but he had a right to be angry, didn't he? If he had just up and left, Max would be royally pissed off and would have screamed at him the second _he_ got back. Probably would have kicked his ass into next week, too. She should count herself lucky that that was the first time they had full out yelled at each other. It was bound to happen eventually, knowing both of their tempers.

Just thinking about it was beginning to piss him off again.

Fang refocused his attention on his computer that he was working on. Max had given him some of the files she'd nicked to look at, but she wasn't leader anymore, so he didn't have to listen to what she said. He had his own plans - like keeping his blog up to date.

He probably would always have a sort of soft spot for his blog. After all, that was one of the few things that was _his. _Well, kind of - Nudge and Iggy stole the laptop sometimes and posted, but anyway. That was his spot to put his thoughts - some of them - and it still had a huge following, even after all this time. And besides, it had helped them take down Itex. Partially, anyway. Obviously, the damn company had gotten back on its feet in no time at all.

"Hey, Fang," Nudge said, poking his side. "I'm done with my files, can I look at yours?"

He glanced at her and nodded. Nudge grinned. "Thanks!" she chirped, and took the files from under his elbow. He watched her surreptitiously as she concentrated on the files and smoothed her crazy flyaway hair back from her face. Fang knew that Nudge really, really wanted to trust Max again, and that one of the few things stopping her was him. It was only a matter of time, he thought, before she cracked and welcomed Max back wholeheartedly.

Maybe he and Iggy should call a truce with her, too...

Nah.

He let out a nearly silent sigh and finished up his blog post.

**Fang's Blog**

**Hey, guys. **

**We moved again since the last time you all heard from me - but I can't say where, as usual. Let's just say I'm in the land of rice and chopsticks. Something important, though - our ranks have swelled a bit since the last time I got on here. **

**Yeah. Max is back. **

**Without giving you all the gory details, she left for a good reason and most of the flock is pretty happy to see her back. Just letting you all know that yep, she's okay. I know you've been asking about her for - well, a year, I guess. So now you know. **

**But on to more important stuff - Itex has got a new director. Her name is Anne Walker, and she's from the United States. If any of you guys know anything about her, leave a comment. Everything helps. We're still looking out for info on global warming, too - keep staying informed, everyone. **

**Fly on, **

**Fang**

He hit post and diverted to his email, ready to start wading through the latest comments he'd gotten, when he thought of something. What if Itex had something on that locked site of theirs? Could he find out even more on there than from those files Max had gotten?

Well, it was worth a shot.

He typed in the URL and waited for the page to load, sneaking a glance over at Max. She was lying on her stomach on the other bed, scanning a page with a slight crease between her eyebrows. She was frustrated about something, apparently. Maybe the precious files didn't have as much information as she thought. Ha.

He had to admit it - while she was gone, he wanted her back. He wanted her to come back and lead - then the burden would be off of his shoulders, and he would have his best friend back. Now that she was back, however, all that he wanted to do was cause her a fraction of the pain that she caused him. If that meant clinging to the leader spot and shutting Max out, that was what Fang was going to do.

He barely paid attention as he typed in Max's name for the password to the website and the familiar plain page popped up. _Infiltration Plan, _he typed.

_**This page is under high security. Please enter your work ID and password. **_

Huh. Well, that must mean that what Max found was legit, if nothing else.

He picked at the knuckle of his right index finger, one of his nervous habits that irritatingly enough, he had never been able to suppress. He wasn't used to keeping secrets from Max, and there was still the matter of that big one that he had yet to tell her...

Iggy knew, of course. He'd become sort of his right hand man. Fang was pretty sure that Angel had picked it out of Iggy's mind - not Fang's, though, he made sure to keep his own mind tightly locked. He just wasn't sure how to broach that topic. It wasn't something that one normally brought up in everyday conversation.

Yeah, he could _really _imagine that going well. Not.

When they finally called a truce, he decided. When they called a truce, he would finally come clean.

He glanced at Max again only to find her looking out of the corner of her eye at him. She caught his eye and didn't bother to hold his gaze, instead looking back down at the paper immediately. He could see a faint blush staining her cheeks as she realized she had been caught.

Fang ripped his eyes away again. That girl was going to be the absolute _death _of him.

* * *

**Chinese Itex Headquarters  
Beijing, China**

Cao sat at his desk, silently fuming. How _dare _Walker insinuate that she was better suited for the Director job than he? It was a mere technicality that she had gotten the job - he should have gotten it, he _knew _that he should have. It was ridiculous, really. He would show her - he was going to take her down, and there was nothing that she could do to stop it.

He wasn't sure just yet how he would do it, but he would come up with a plan - maybe she would blunder in some important area that he specialized in, and he would fix the situation and force her to sign over the job to him. That might work. Or maybe -

A hurried knock at the door. "Director Cao? Sir? It's urgent!" came a voice.

"What?" he demanded, irritated at being distracted from his plans of revenge.

The door opened, and one of the lesser scientists came tumbling in, his white coat in disarray and his glasses slipping down his nose. "There's something wrong," he panted. He had obviously run all the way to Cao's office.

Cao raised one eyebrow. "And? What is it?"

"Some of our cameras on a lower level have been shot out," he admitted, with the air of one who very much wishes to disappear. "There was an intruder here."

Cao sat up a little straighter. "An intruder? But how? There are guards everywhere - Animins on the experimental levels -"

The scientist shook his head. "It wasn't on an experimental level, sir - this was on the conference level."

"The conference level?" Cao's eyes locked on the scientist. "There are files on that level, not to mention the meeting was held there. Was anything stolen?"

The scientist blinked. "I'm not sure if that's been checked. Should I alert Director Walker-?"

"No!" Cao snapped. "Do not alert her just yet. This is still _my _branch of Itex, do you understand me?"

The scientist nodded vigorously, not wishing to infuriate Cao anymore than was necessary.

"Good," Cao said. "I want you to go and check the floor. Take some people with you if you need, but ensure that nothing was stolen, understand? Check every file box, every computer, every break room on the floor. Are you sure that there is no security footage?"

The man hesitated. "I don't think so - the cameras were shot out, after all-"

"Well, check again," Cao ordered. "If there's the slightest chance that we can catch whoever did this, I want to take it." The man stood there and stared at him. "Well?" Cao asked impatiently. "Get on it, then!" The scientist nodded hurriedly and scurried out of the room.

Cao sat back in his chair, pensive. Who would have broken into the Itex? Who even had the resources to? It was near impossible to get in undetected - after all, there was only one door in and out of the building - and there were Animins that patrolled the corridors on all of the floors where experiments were carried out. Surely anyone that tried to get in would have been caught and injured at the very least, if not killed...

He thought of the explosions that had occurred towards the end of that meeting. Could that have been part of a plan? A plan, to distract them from the break-in that was occurring?

He shook his head. No, that was much too large scale. But then again...it was much too big of a coincidence to be purely accidental...maybe whoever had broken in had had an accomplice.

Then it hit him.

There were only so many people out there that had a vendetta against Itex that still survived. They had managed to eliminate most of the vocal dissenters, and the rest were either too afraid to act or had submitted entirely...so that left...

He flashed back to a memo from Marian Janssen over a year ago, about sending two of his scientists to see if they wanted something to use as weapons. The pieces began falling in to place in his head. She had said that they were dangerous to Itex and would rather they would be disposed of while playing a part in the By-Half plan. The avians had been a fly in the ointment for Itex for a year and a half. There were six, if he remembered correctly. That was enough to have half set off the bombs, and have the other half break into the Itex. And the break-in had been on the twentieth floor...

Could it be...?

Just then, the scientist burst back into the room, causing the door to bang against the wall. "Cao - Director Cao," he corrected himself hurriedly. "We've discovered what was taken."

"What? What was taken?" Cao asked immediately.

"Just one file," the scientist answered. "It was taken from the 1990-95 time period."

"Which one? Damn it, man, spit it out!" Cao said impatiently.

He seemed reluctant to admit it. "It was the file containing information on the Infiltration Plan."

Cao swore loudly. "Do you realize what this means?" he exclaimed. "While everyone was off staring at the pretty lights, someone has information on one of the most important, top secret plans that's underway!" His temper was beginning to fly out of control, and his face was flushing.

"We were able to recover some video," the scientist said hurriedly.

The man suddenly had Cao's full attention. "And?"

"I had tech pull it up for me," the scientist said. "May I?" he asked, gesturing towards the projector screen close to the doorway. Cao gave an irritable jerk of the head. Taking this to mean yes, the scientist pulled the screen down and turned the projector on. While it warmed up, he said to Cao, "The video is very brief - the camera wasn't able to transmit much before it was shot out."

The man pressed play, and a clip of the hallway began playing. First, a dark haired boy of around sixteen or seventeen years of age emerged from the store room, glancing around surreptitiously. He was followed by a blonde of about the same age. Cao barely got a glance at them before the boy whirled, aiming a gun at the camera, and everything went dark.

"Rewind," he ordered. The scientist did so, but he had barely pressed the button when Cao ordered, "Pause." The picture froze on the instant when both of the intruders were on screen. Cao leaned forward, narrowing his eyes.

"I want a test run on this," he said suddenly. "Have it sharpened, and match the faces of these two to the pictures we have of the avian hybrids."

The scientist looked confused. Obviously, he wasn't on a high enough level to be privy to the avian information. "The avian hybrids, sir?"

"Yes, you idiot," Cao said impatiently. "The avian hybrids. Do it, you understand me?"

The scientist nodded. "I'll have them load it, sir."

"Good. Go, now. Hurry up." The man left, forgetting in his haste to turn off the projector.

Cao leaned back in his chair, still scrutinizing the chair. If he was right - which he thought he was - the avian hybrids were in China. How they had known to come here, he had no idea. But they were here - and they knew about the Infiltration Plan.

He glanced at the phone on his desk. It was time to make a phone call.


End file.
